Basically, back in 2005, the federal government drew up a set of minimum security standards for identification cards. Not all states yet comply with these standards. See REAL ID. Basically, they are standardizing the information that needs to be reported on the ID, and they are standardizing the requirements proving your identity necessary to obtain the ID. ETA: Also, there’s an information sharing provision, that the ID databases are shared between states.
Missed the edit window- 30 something years ago, when I got my first license, no copies were kept of my documents, they weren’t verified, I wasn’t asked if I was in the US legally or for a SSN and a clerk could print a license on the spot. They didn’t have photos and the only thing special about the paper was that it was a little thicker than usual. States can still issue those sorts of licenses if they choose- but they won’t be accepted by Federal agencies or for air travel.
I’m sure that happens. On the other hand, every flight I’ve been on during the past 5 years (or longer) have been 98% full or more.
BTW, I got the passport cardwhen I renewed by passport. I thought it would save me from the WA Drivers License problem. Turns out it won’t. My traditional passport will have to do, or I’ll have to get an “enhanced” Drivers License.
At least residents of those states can hop a bus. If Hawaii gets added, most people here will be screwed.
I remember those innocent days when you didn’t need to show ID to fly. The first time I moved to Hawaii was in 1991, after living in Albuquerque for a spell following my first time living in Thailand. Pre-Internet and you still had to go through travel agents for the most part. It was not much more to buy a round-trip ticket than a one-way, so I paid for round trip from LAX, then posted an ad selling my return flight back to there, subsidizing my fare a little. I sold the return ticket to a German tourist staying in Waikiki, which was perfect since I have a Germanic surname. The airline staff would have had no problem believing that man with the thick accent had that name. No one asked to see ID back then.
Heck, quite often it was cheaper to buy a round trip than a one-way, as odd as that sounds.
From the driver’s end, in my state the difference between a Real ID and a regular one is that the former has a star on it.
No, the exact opposite is true. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that one can not be punished for failure to answer questions or provide identification to police in the absence of reasonable suspicion of criminal conduct:
The ‘landmark’ case was, as shown above, Brown v. Texas. There is also:
Among many other cites.
The oddest quote from that link:
:eek:
Yes, we do. And the travel ID won’t replace the regular driver’s license. Arizonans also have until October 1, 2020 to get the new travel ID. And it is good for eight years.
https://azdot.gov/mvd/driver-services/arizona-voluntary-travel-id/overview
I couldn’t find that quote on that page but I did find this
Are you sure you didn’t click on one of the links on that page?
Not to mention Immigration Court.
You are correct, I clicked into the link to see the status of an individual state, clicking on Tennessee provide the quote.
As recently as the 1990s, Louisiana’s licenses/IDs were just a piece of cardboard with a photograph glued onto them. They weren’t even laminated. I had a classmate from there who showed me hers. On the plus side (from a college student’s point of view), they were trivially easy to counterfeit, but on the minus side, even if yours was legitimate, every bar bouncer would assume that it was counterfeit.
Now that I think of it, I think that was the case with me. I bought a one way from Albuquerque to LAX, then round trip from LAX to Honolulu, and that second ticket did cost somewhat less than a one way would have.
Yeah, I can’t remember what the exact reasoning was, but I do remember buying round trip tickets a couple of times and chucking the return leg because it was cheaper than one-way. I also remember the airlines not being fond of that, and threatening to put you on some sort of list or something. There was also the technique of buying a ticket to a secondary destination with a layover in your actual (primary) destination, when trips to the secondary destination were cheaper than directs to the primary one. I want to say this was called “dead legging” or something (getting off at the layover point without continuing on.) This was punishable by having the rest of your itinerary cancelled by the airline, if I remember right.
Back when I was younger and flying more, airline ticket agents would tell me the two-way was cheaper even if you didn’t use it. I don’t recall it being a bad thing unless you didn’t cancel the return flight. I’m sure they don’t like no-shows.
My understanding was that the passport card would be accepted by federal agencies. What makes you think otherwise?
And how come there are so many kids (15 or younger) on planes if that’s so?
The explosions would be smaller? (D+r)
Current TSA rules don’t require kids under 18 to present ID for domestic travel. I don’t know how you prove that the kid is under 18. Perhaps you need an ID to prove you don’t need an ID.
This reminds me of the problems my friends and I had in our youths. Bus drivers and train station agents were the bane of our existence. Back then you paid in cash and there was no automated fare collection other than the fare box that counted your coins. We would constantly get into arguments with surly bus drivers yelling at us “You aren’t under 12! Pay full fare or get off my bus!” Kids back then didn’t have IDs.
And, yes, back then nobody would call the cops or family services just because a kid was on the streets without their parents.