If we say REAL ID you know what are we talking about, right? It was supposed to be the top security requirement in our country (yep) and huge lines were formed at every DMV in every state. It was supposed, and we say supposed for good reasons, to serve to know who you are, where you come from, and what your legal status is. Well. Supposedly. Now the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has acknowledged before a federal court that this document is not reliable to confirm US citizenship!! What?! Well yes, it is mandatory to fly because it is “super secure”, but it does not confirm your citizenship. Wow.
“Not sufficient”
That is how a document presented in December by the DHS put it, confirming that REAL ID does not guarantee that a person is a citizen of the United States. Each state applies its own rules for issuing it, and in some states the document can be issued to legal residents who do not have citizenship. That is, it is valid but not conclusive.
The admission
And of course, this came out in the middle of a civil rights lawsuit after several immigration raids in Alabama. In one of them, agents detained a construction worker who was a US citizen and was carrying a valid REAL ID. Even so, he was handcuffed and detained. According to the agents, this worker’s document “was not enough”.
The controversy and the inefficiency
REAL ID was created in 2005, shortly after the 9/11 attacks. A law was needed to protect citizens and make it as difficult as possible for something similar to happen again. The idea was to unify standards and make counterfeiting practically impossible. It worked in theory, but many states resisted and kept granting endless extensions, until it finally became real last May.
Now, the DHS insists that REAL ID is not an immigration document, just an identification that is harder to fake, a clarification they had not made before May.
What exposed the problem?
The spark was a lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice. They argue that a US citizen was detained twice in immigration raids (ICE). Twice!! And with his REAL ID fully valid…
On both occasions, agents distrusted the document and held him while they “checked” his status. According to the complaint, the real reason was his appearance. The government denies it, of course, but acknowledging that REAL ID does not prove citizenship does not help its defense much.
And civil rights?
Legal experts and civil rights advocates warn that this position weakens the Fourth Amendment, which protects against arbitrary detentions. If the government forces you to have a document but then that document proves nothing, what does it protect and what is it actually for?
What is REAL ID for?
Now it is clear that it only serves to fly or enter federal buildings. Yes, it is mandatory for that, but it does not serve to prove anyone’s citizenship.
And of course, many complaints, because after 20 years waiting for this document, it is not very effective and it is expensive, and it seems that after millions invested it does not fulfill its main promise.
It proves nothing
Many believe, and with good reason, that this debate will lead to more “mistaken” detentions and that racism will continue to spread across our country, especially against citizens belonging to minorities.
So if REAL ID proves nothing, why are we forced to use it?