Passport may be needed to fly

http://www.dchieftain.com/dc/index.p...ed-to-fly.html

Passport may be needed to fly
Written by Dan Boyd
Saturday, 28 November 2009 06:00
Dan Boyd



You're OK for the rest of the year to clear security at the Albuquerque airport with just your driver's license — but that could change.

Beginning Jan. 1, you might need a passport.

New Mexico is on a collision course with the federal government over a controversial federal ID law. State officials and at least one congressman are scrambling to avoid what could be massive disruption to airline travel.

As things stand now, New Mexicans won't be able to use their state-issued driver's licenses to gain airport security clearance starting Jan. 1, 2010.

Instead, a passport will have to be presented to board an airplane, a top state official confirmed.

New Mexico is one 36 states that don't meet requirements of the federal Real ID Act, which President George W. Bush signed into law in 2005. In New Mexico's case, a state law that allows immigrants, regardless of their immigration status, to be eligible for driver's licenses is the main sticking point.

"You've got a situation where, unless the federal government backs off Real ID, the citizens of all these states will not be able to pass through security and board a plane unless they have a valid passport to show," said Rick Homans, secretary of the state's Taxation and Revenue Department, which oversees the Motor Vehicle Division.

Homans on Tuesday sent U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano a letter requesting an extension of the Real ID Act's Dec. 31 deadline until May 2011.

"If this happens, it's not going to be pretty," Homans said of the possibility of driver's licenses becoming insufficient for airline travel. "It really has the potential to shut down the airline industry."

The Real ID Act, which was enacted in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, mandates new national standards for state-issued driver's licenses or identification cards, including affirmation of legal residency status.

Its implementation has already been pushed back several times, however, as a number of states have lodged complaints about federal intrusion and high costs. Fifteen states have approved legislation that specifically opposes compliance with the law, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

New Mexico isn't one of those 15 states.

Although the Obama administration unveiled plans earlier this year to scale back the Real ID Act, Homans said that with much of the attention on Capitol Hill focused on the national health care debate, there are no guarantees the Dec. 31 deadline will be extended.

"There's not too much time left," Homans said. "I think, quite frankly, everyone assumed Real ID would not be the law of the land in December 2009."

looks like the hillbillies have shot themselves in the foot yet again.

This is my opinion, but I doubt this would be enforced..., but will wait n see how it develops. We should keep the research up, most def..