States are Flouting Post-9/11 ID Law, Giving Cards to ILLEGALS that Mirror Regular Citizen Licenses

After the 9/11 attacks, Congress passed the REAL ID Act to prevent foreign nationals from fraudulently obtaining a U.S. driver's license -- by requiring that any ID issued based on unverifiable foreign documents look different in "design or color" from an official driver's license.

That way, TSA and other law enforcement would know the ID holder might not be who they say they are.

But more than a decade later, several state and local governments are openly flouting the law, issuing ID cards that are barely distinguishable from a bona fide driver's license. That means those with mere ID cards, like illegal immigrants, might be able to pass off their cards as a driver's license at the airport and elsewhere -- creating a huge gap in security.

Examples include Washington, D.C., and Colorado.

For card-holders in the nation's capital, a small star in the corner is the only visual cue that distinguishes a D.C. license from a mere ID card.

In Colorado, the distinguishing characteristic for the ID cards is a small black band.

"If you could issue a letter grade to the way states are handling this, it would be an 'F'," said Andrew Meehan, of the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License.

From the outset, states have chafed at the new federal rules. They called the policy an unfunded mandate and federal intrusion.

More recently, advocates for illegal immigrants have opposed the parts of the law that require "noncompliant" cards for undocumented workers to look different than licenses for U.S. citizens and legal residents.

"What we object to is states that gratuitously would try to do much more than necessary for the sole purpose of stigmatizing individuals," said American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Jon Blazer. "On the other hand, some states have taken a better approach in this regard, and have put the minimal requirements that they're obliged to put under federal law."

Meehan said 23 states currently meet Department of Homeland Security standards.

However, six of those states issue ID cards that look virtually identical to a standard driver's license, violating the act's language. Since January alone, one of those states -- California -- has issued licenses to 500,000 illegal immigrants.

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