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DHS is Learning from BATFE

Thundar

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This effort by DHS to turn the entire country "green" is truely Orwellian. Green is the color used to indicate a state that has applied for and been granted an extention for REAL ID compliance. NH, like Montana did not ask for an extension, but was granted one by DHS.

Link:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/new-hampshire-j.html





New Hampshire Joins Montana in Real ID Victory
By Ryan Singel March 27, 2008 | 5:39:29 PMCategories: Identification




Détente has arrived in the fight between independence-minded states and a federal bureaucracy keen to claim a unanimous victory in its drive to create a de facto national identity database.


New Hampshire Governor John Lynch followed the lead of Montana and secured a reprieve from federal ID-rule punishment, without agreeing to comply with Real ID.
Photo: AP/Jim Cole
The key? The renegade states send a nice letter that is not a request for an extension of a looming deadline but touts the security of their driver's licenses, which the Department of Homeland Security accepts as an official extension request. That lets DHS save face, even as it backs down from repeated threats to punish the citizens of rogue states.

On Thursday, New Hampshire became the second of the four holdout states to get
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an unasked-for extension, following the path blazed by Montana's feisty Democratic governor Brian Schweitzer last Friday. Schweitzer told Threat Level he sent DHS "a horse, and if they want to call it a zebra, that's up to them."

The legislators in the Live Free or Die state, like those in Montana, banned the state from complying with the Real ID mandates, citing state's rights, the inequity of unfunded federal mandates, and privacy issues. Under the rules, almost all license holders will have to return to the DMV with notarized "breeder documents" like birth and marriage certificates, and states will have to interlink their databases of digital photos and personal information. Citizens of states that opt out can't use their licenses for federal purposes, such as entering airport screening lines or going to a Social Security office.

DHS says the new licenses will prevent terrorism and identity theft, and Secretary Michael Chertoff says it's one of his top priorities in his last nine months in office.

In a terse February letter, New Hampshire Governor John Lynch, a Democrat, asked that DHS not stop accepting New Hampshire licenses come the May 11 deadline, as DHS had threatened to do to the citizens of any state that didn't agree to eventually comply with Real ID. If that had happened, New Hampshire residents who didn't have passports would have been frisked at airports and banned from federal buildings.
new letter (.pdf) Thursday. It highlighted the state's efforts to include more anti-counterfeiting features in its identification cards and to verify people's documents and eligibility for a license. But Sweeney also noted that New Hampshire is "currently prohibited by law from implementing Real ID."

DHS Undersecretary Stewart Baker promptly responded by interpreting the letter as a request for an extension (.pdf), thereby averting a May 11 showdown.

Now only Maine and South Carolina remain without extensions, but it's very likely both states will submit similar letters by the April 1 deadline. That will turn the Real ID map all green, clearing the way for a DHS victory proclamation.

That lets the Bush administration claim credit for implementing Real ID, even though no states will begin offering Real ID-compliant licenses until at least 2010, well into someone else's term at the White House.

And the states get to claim victory over the federal bullies.

And it leaves time for Congress to step in, if it wishes, to actually hold hearings on identification policy and figure out if a de facto national ID, complete with a national biometric database, is really the right solution to preventing someone from blowing up a mall full of shoppers.

See Also:

 

sjhipple

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May 31, 2007
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Thundar wrote:
This effort by DHS to turn the entire country "green" is truely Orwellian. Green is the color used to indicate a state that has applied for and been granted an extention for REAL ID compliance. NH, like Montana did not ask for an extension, but was granted one by DHS.

Link:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/new-hampshire-j.html
Now maybe these other wimp states can jump on board and protect their citizens rights and privacy.
 

MontanaCZ

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Not only did we not ask for one, we have been telling them to pound sand. Ok, the DHS is also telling MT residents that they cannot fly come May.. I wonder what the airlines will say to that.. :)

-MontanaCZ
 

swillden

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MontanaCZ wrote:
Not only did we not ask for one, we have been telling them to pound sand. Ok, the DHS is also telling MT residents that they cannot fly come May.. I wonder what the airlines will say to that.. :)
DHS is being a little disingenuous when they say that. The fact is that there's already a process in place for travelers who don't have any ID. Basically, you have to go through the full pat-down routine, bomb-sniffer run on your bags, etc., just the same as if you'd been "randomly" selected.
 

sjhipple

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DKSuddeth wrote:
I look forward to the first filed lawsuits of individuals denied air travel.
That wouldn't do anything. The only way to stop it is to get your legislators to vote to opt out like Montana, New Hampshire, South Carolina and a few others have done.
 

MontanaCZ

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swillden wrote:
MontanaCZ wrote:
Not only did we not ask for one, we have been telling them to pound sand. Ok, the DHS is also telling MT residents that they cannot fly come May.. I wonder what the airlines will say to that.. :)
DHS is being a little disingenuous when they say that. The fact is that there's already a process in place for travelers who don't have any ID. Basically, you have to go through the full pat-down routine, bomb-sniffer run on your bags, etc., just the same as if you'd been "randomly" selected.
Yeah, I know. I forgot the smilies in there. As for the pat down, I go through that almost every week, at least once (about 300k per year flying). I just look menacing, so I get picked out.:D It is bad enough, and often enough, that I just plan extra time for it. Heck, I have gone through the pat down, again, after clearing security, before I was allowed to board.
 

swillden

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MontanaCZ wrote:
As for the pat down, I go through that almost every week, at least once (about 300k per year flying). I just look menacing, so I get picked out.:D It is bad enough, and often enough, that I just plan extra time for it. Heck, I have gone through the pat down, again, after clearing security, before I was allowed to board.
But that pat down is RANDOM, I tell you!

I haven't seen the gate searches for years, not in the US anyway.

300K per year? Wow, and I thought my life sucked... just goes to show that no matter how bad it is, somebody else has it worse ;)
 

MontanaCZ

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The one that ripped me once, was when I saw some people get their tickets, and were able to board the plane, while they did not have any ID. I tried the same thing, and no, I will not get anywhere without ID. I protested, but I got nowhere. Now figure that one out.. I have tried it, several times, and I cannot get past without ID. I have heard of other incidents, but I have seen it myself twice. I even had my ID stolen once, nope, had to wait the few days extra, in a hotel, to get the new ID FedEx to me so I could board and leave.

Yep, we are safer...
 

Thundar

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South Carolina will not ask for Real ID extention!!

Link:

http://www.wistv.com/Global/story.asp?S=8092461&nav=0RaPUicl

Governor: South Carolina will not file extension for Real ID

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March 31, 2008 07:40 AM EDT

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March 31, 2008 12:26 PM EDT


COLUMBIA, SC (AP) - Governor Mark Sanford says he will not ask the federal government for more time to comply with new driver license standards.

The decision means South Carolinians may not be allowed to board airplanes or enter some federal facilities using only their state-issued driver's licenses. They'd have to use a passport or go through more rigorous screening.

Sanford's decision came on the deadline to ask for more time to comply with the law. The Legislature passed a measure last year that bars South Carolina from complying. Sanford and other governors have complained the Real ID measure costs too much.

The law calls for more secure identification cards. Sanford says South Carolina already meets all but a couple of the standards.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 
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