Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005, a few years after the 9/11 attacks. The subsequent 9/11 Commission Report revealed many weaknesses in our national security, including the fact that hijackers Khalid Al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Al-Hazmi got California driver’s licenses through a facilitator in San Diego. They probably used those to board the American Airlines plane they crashed into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.
International and domestic criminals and terrorists love “breeder documents” (papers issued based on low evidence), which they can use to get better identification documents (IDs) like a passport, birth certificate, and Social Security card. That’s why for air travel and other serious business, all passengers should have identification based on information that has been verified, so we know who they really are.
After two decades of the government…
