Under the REAL ID Act, federal agencies are prohibited, effective May 11, 2008, from accepting a driver’s license or a state-issued personal identification card for an “official purpose” unless the issuing state is meeting the requirements of the REAL ID Act. Bottom line? Travelers from non-compliant states will likely encounter significant travel delays because they will be required to undergo secondary screening.
Members of Congress call for tougher border security in one breath and then demand that tougher policies be dismantled in the next. Next up: Demands for more short people who are tall.
Last week in an interview with the Associated Press, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said: “It’s time to grow up and recognize that if we’re serious about this threat, we’ve got to take reasonable, measured but nevertheless determined steps to getting better security.”
Needless to say, the response from several Members of Congress, particularly those who represent states along the northern border with Canada, has been one of fury and outrage.
Changes at the border need to occur. They have been talked about for a long time and should come as no surprise, especially to Members of Congress and residents of these border communities.
As of January 31, 2008, all individuals seeking to enter the U.S. at land borders will have to present documentary proof of citizenship. Until this change in policy takes effect, any individual in the Western Hemisphere can enter the United States by attesting they are a United States citizen and presenting a driver’s license. This approach places entry into our country into the realm of the honor system – a concept that has failed in our immigration policies – and relegated DHS Inspectors to the realm of bartenders attempting to distinguish a phony driver’s license from a real one.
And now the latest is Ron Paul, who has run a maverick campaign based on libertarian principles — except when such principles seem to get in the way of political expediency. He has now launched an ad proclaiming himself to be the tough-on-illegal-immigrants candidate, even going so far as to call for a ban on student visas from “terrorist nations.” (Would that include France?) For a guy who is supposed to embrace civil liberties, the idea of a blanket ban of any student who comes from any “terrorist nation,” no matter how deserving the individual student, is ironic to say the least.
Congress has much to do to improve on its below-par performance on homeland security in 2007. These five priorities are good places to start: Consolidate congressional oversight of DHS; stop turning DHS grants into pork barrel grabfests; establish an Undersecretary for DHS; repeal the damaging mandate to scan 100 percent of all cargo; finish immigration reform.
It continues to amaze me that over five years after the 9-11 Commission Report, we as a nation are still discussing the creation of a “national identification” document. As brought to light last week in Secretary Chertoff’s remarks on DHS’s accomplishments in 2007 and priorities for 2008, DHS is moving forward with a “retooled” REAL ID requirement. Despite the current multitude of state rules and standards that are inconsistent in the issuance of driver’s licenses, reality is and continues to be that a driver’s license is the most requested and recognized form of identification. If you don’t believe that, just ask Governor Spitzer of New York who recently advocated giving illegal immigrants the ability to obtain state driver’s licenses.
I compare my experience in enforcing our nation’s immigration laws to pushing a broken-down car up a hill. Once you get a little momentum forward, it starts to roll backwards.
The job of enforcing our immigration statutes gets even harder when employers shirk their responsibilities to verify the employment eligibility of their workers, when advocacy groups run to the media sensationalizing the plight of the unauthorized worker, when Members of Congress send in scathing letters on behalf of their constituencies challenging DHS actions and now when states implement laws preventing cooperation with DHS.
Most interesting in the Secretary’s speech were his uncommonly candid criticisms of groups that he says have made it difficult for the federal government to implement an effective homeland security strategy. He doesn’t hold back, taking aim at: Congress, state governments and private industry.
Over the last few years, the SSA has issued practically useless notifications to employers advising employers that there were some discrepancies between an employee’s social security number and their biographic information. The main question from employers receiving such letters was “… and you want us to do what about this?” The notices did not direct employers to take any action, and frankly were a fine example of a bureaucratic SSA hot-potato game.
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