Don’t Have a REAL ID yet? Expect Delays and Enhanced Security Screenings

TIME

Travelers who aren’t REAL ID compliant by the upcoming deadline this week will still be able to fly but should be prepared for extra scrutiny, the head of Homeland Security said Tuesday.

Transcript

00:00Tomorrow is the day that Real ID will finally be enforced. It's been a law

00:04that's been in place for over 20 years. 81% of the travelers that travel by

00:09airline in the United States today are already compliant. So they have IDs that

00:12already they will be able to use just like they normally always have been. We

00:17will be honoring passports, other federally recognized IDs, tribal IDs

00:22will be recognized. And what will happen tomorrow is folks will come through the

00:25line and will be issued their ID and show it. If it's not compliant they may be

00:30diverted to a different line, have an extra step but people will be allowed to

00:34fly. After 9-11, the 9-11 Commission convened and one of their key

00:40recommendations was to improve identification of those using the

00:43transportation network. And so this Real ID Act was signed in 2005. We've been

00:48endeavoring to to launch it since then. So when you go to that Motor Vehicle

00:51Commission to get that Real ID driver's license you have to provide a lot more

00:55documentation that provides a higher degree of certainty that that individual

01:00identity is exactly accurate. There are other forms of Real ID such as

01:04passports, passports cards, and I refer anyone who has any questions on what is

01:09an acceptable Real ID to TSA.gov for a full list. If you have a Real ID and it's

01:14compliant with the law, it'll be business as usual. If you do not, that

01:19individual should be aware that they could be subjected to additional enhanced

01:23screening at the checkpoint. So that may cause a slight delay for them. So they

01:27bake that into their time in travel plans. I mean, people have had plenty of

01:32time to get prepared for it. So don't object to it. That's fine. It's perfect. I've been

01:40waiting five years. I've had it for five years at least. So back when they first

01:45started talking about it and it was a good idea back then. And I don't remember the

01:50deadlines, but we got it right away. It didn't matter. You know, I question the

01:55bureaucracy around it. It feels like a tax on everyday people having to upgrade

01:59their licenses and all of their identification for something that

02:03really, you know, seems like we've been fine without it.

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