Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said that under the REAL ID Act, a law designed to make it harder for terrorists, illegal immigrants and con artists to get government-issued identification, states will have to seek waivers for more time to comply with new regulations by May, or people from those states could be subject to secondary screening at airports.
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Chertoff said that in instances where a particular state doesn't seek a waiver, residents will have to use a passport or a newly created federal passport card if they want to avoid a vigorous secondary screening by airport security.
Dang. How does one go about voluntarily getting a "federal passport card" to avoid airport (or other federal building) problems in the meantime?
I was born right here in the town where I live, and should be pretty easy to verify. Since I don't have anything to hide, I'd be willing to go ahead and get one, just to avoid the hassle.
I could get a passport, but that's quite costly, and not nearly as easy to carry as a card.
The State should be verifying social security numbers anyway, since just last year, we learned that someone in Memphis had used my oldest daughter's SSN to get a driver's license and register to vote. His license was subsequently revoked (before we reported and proved that the number wasn't his), and we're still trying to straighten out the mess.
The federal Social Security office was worse than no help at all. The State was helpful, but I'm still discouraged that it was allowed to happen in the first place.
