Chertoff unveils new rules for driver's licenses

By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON β€” U.S. residents born after Dec. 1, 1964, will need to have new Homeland Security-approved drivers licenses by Dec. 1, 2014, if they want to use their ID to board an airplane or enter a federal building, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Friday.
Older drivers will have until 2017, he said.

The new rules do not require states to issue the new identification cards, but residents of states that do not participate will not be able to use their driver's licenses as proof of identity at federal agencies.

States that need more time to comply with the new rules must apply for a waiver if they want their licenses to remain valid after May 2008.

Congress directed Homeland Security to devise the new rules as part of the Real ID Act, passed in 2005.

Congress was responding to the 9/11 Commission Report, which identified weaknesses in national security that allowed the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001.

The Commission urged Congress to set nationwide standards for identification documents.

Chertoff says the new rules will make it harder for terrorists to slip past security checks, curb illegal immigration and reduce identity theft.

The rules prohibit states from issuing the new secure license to illegal immigrants.

States may issue other forms of identification to illegal immigrants, but they will not be valid for federal security use. "This kind of identification gives us a tremendous tool in preventing dangerous people from getting on airplanes or getting into federal buildings," Chertoff says. "Second, secure identification happens to be a very good way to prevent illegal immigrants from pretending to be American citizens so they can work illegally in this country."

To comply with the new rules, states must design licenses that include embedded security features set by Homeland Security and digital photographs.

Personal data, such as Social Security numbers and immigration status, will be checked against federal databases to root out fraud.

Chertoff says his department reviewed more than 21,000 comments from citizens, states and organizations before finalizing the rules.

Some civil liberties groups, such as the American Civil Liberties Union, have opposed national standards as a violation of privacy.

States have complained that the federal rules will be costly and difficult to implement and 17 states have passed legislation objecting to the REAL ID Act.

The new ID program "will not only lead to long lines at every DMV across the country, it will impose a massive unfunded mandate on state governments while offering absolutely no federal privacy protections to our citizens," says Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who has introduced legislation that would repeal the driver's license provision. "It is difficult to think this is anything but the first, big step toward a national identification card."

Homeland Security estimates say revamping drivers licenses nationwide will cost states $3.9 billion.

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