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Real ID is an unconstitutional National ID that will end state and personal sovereignty. Contact your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator and ask them to require TSA to withdraw the “progressive reinforcement” rule and to repeal REAL ID.
TAKE ACTION TODAY
“This really is a National Identification card for the United States of America for the first time in our history. We’ve never done this before, and we shouldn’t be doing it without a full debate… I’m very, very reluctant for this country to have a National ID card . . .” – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander during the 2005 Senate floor debate on REAL ID
“By federalizing driver licensing the REAL ID Act usurps this power which has been reserved to the states.” – Letter to President Trump from 116 Pennsylvania legislators, January 30, 2017
POINTS TO KNOW
REAL ID is an unconstitutional National ID that will end state and personal sovereignty (CCHF Public Comment).
Fully imposed, it will be digitized, potentially put on your phone, made real-time and remotely accessible, and used to track and control movement, purchases, and transactions (AAMVA Testimony).
REAL ID could become a Chinese-like social credit system, linked to a global ID.
The expanding use of biometric and digital ID systems are potential threats to medical privacy, patient autonomy, and individual freedom. REAL ID opens the door to tracking, profiling, and control over your medical choices and daily life.
Don’t buy the lie. You can still fly – without REAL ID.
Indeed you may be able to fly without any ID, according to Gilmore vs. Gonzalez. Processes are in place today if you lose your ID, including questions you need to answer (i.e. What was the color of your first car?) and a search.
TAKE ACTION: Ask Congress to: 1. Require TSA to withdraw the “progressive enforcement” rule and 2. Repeal the law.
HISTORY
In 2005, Congress passed an unconstitutional law requiring all American citizens to be issued a “National Identification card” (U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander’s words on the Senate floor) – a REAL ID. In 2008, the Department of Homeland Security issued a rule requiring all states to conform to the unconstitutional federal law and issue REAL IDs for driver’s licenses and identification cards.
More than half of the states REFUSED this usurpation of states’ rights—25 states passed laws prohibiting compliance and 12 states passed resolutions opposing REAL ID. Federal deadline after deadline passed with little state compliance. In 2016, President Obama issued the “You can’t fly” lie. In 2017, U.S. Senator Rand Paul sponsored a bill to repeal REAL ID, but it did not advance (Senator Paul is now the chair of the U.S. Senate’s Homeland Security committee).
The news media parroted the “you can’t fly” lie, and Americans began pressuring state legislators to comply. By 2018, most states were in compliance with the federal rule, but a majority of cards were not.
Find the 15 other acceptable identification documents that can be used to fly on the TSA website.
Today 44 percent of all IDs and driver’s licenses are not in compliance. For the sake of protecting our constitutional rights and freedoms, we need to increase that number. People with REAL IDs should switch to a standard ID or DL in the 45 states that do not require you to have a REAL ID.
Under the U.S. Constitution, no one is required to submit to REAL ID, or any National ID system.
Also:
CCHF Launches “REFUSE REAL ID” Campaign
Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom (CCHF), in response to the unconstitutional “progressive enforcement” REAL ID rule recently issued by the Transportation and Safety Administration, is asking Americans to refuse to get a REAL ID.
“REAL ID is a NATIONAL ID system, usurping states’ rights and violating privacy rights. It’s an infringement of the 10th Amendment and the 4th Amendment. Americans should refuse to submit to this NATIONAL ID system of federal control,” says Twila Brase, RN, PHN, Co-founder and President of CCHF.
CCHF has sent letters to key members of Congress asking them to use the Congressional Review Act to force TSA to withdraw the rule, which was issued on January 13, 2025.
“It is a lie that you cannot fly without REAL ID,” Brase continued. “There are at least 16 identification cards, and passengers without any ID can submit to a search, as noted in the Gilmore vs. Gonzalez ruling. The “you can’t fly” lie is being used to convince Americans to give up their constitutional rights and submit to federal control over identification, transportation, and, in the future, a broad swatch of personal interactions and commercial transactions.”
Brase points to the 2005 REAL ID Act, which allows the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand required uses (“official purposes”) of the REAL ID beyond access to federal facilities, nuclear facilities, and commercial flight.
“In the future, REAL ID could be required to access medical care, buy a gun, get married, build a business, lease a car, rent a hotel room, and much more,” says Brase. “The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators testified to Congress of plans to digitize REAL ID, put it on phones, and make it remote and real time accessible.”
CCHF’s call to action, in a joint effort with Stand for Health Freedom, asks citizens to refuse the REAL ID. CCHF also asks them to contact members of Congress with a request to shut down the TSA’s REAL ID rule, which launches two years of “progressive enforcement” and “progressive consequences” beginning on May 7, 2025.
CCHF is asking Americans to call Congress and take action by going to www.RefuseREALID.org.
Also:
Repeal REAL ID – Seven Reasons
1. FEDERAL INFRINGEMENT – REAL ID is a National ID system, foisted on the American people, threatening state and individual sovereignty.
In 2005, during the Senate floor debate, U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander stated:
This really is a National Identification card for the United States of America for the first time in our history. We’ve never done this before, and we shouldn’t be doing it without a full debate… I’m very, very reluctant for this country to have a National ID card . . .
U.S. Senator Patty Murray also remarked during that 2005 debate:
“The REAL ID provision has ramifications for privacy, for States rights, and for immigration policy, and I am really disappointed that it has been rammed through as an attachment to a desperately needed bill that funds our troops… I think a lot of us are kind of scratching our heads about how this REAL ID provision ended up in this conference report. I know I didn’t vote for it. I know there wasn’t even a discussion of it in conference… I serve on the conference committee and want to share with my colleagues exactly what happened, so they’ll understand why the sudden appearance of the REAL ID provision is so surprising to many of us… The REAL ID provision will have dramatic and far-reaching changes and puts an unfunded mandate on many states. And yet, it was never brought before a Senate committee, and it was never voted on in the conference… that is exactly why I did not sign the final conference report.”
2. UNCONSTITUTIONAL – REAL ID is a usurpation of States’ rights under the Tenth Amendment. In 2017, 114 Pennsylvania legislators wrote to President Trump to oppose REAL ID calling it a “usurpation” and a violation of individual privacy rights under the 4th Amendment. The Pennsylvania letter also stated:
“The Tenth Amendment establishes that “[t]he powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively…”
By “federalizing” driver licensing the REAL ID Act usurps this power which has been reserved to the states. Thus, REAL ID is an unconstitutional overreach of federal power.
3. DELIBERATE DECEPTION – TSA, previous administrations, and the news media have too often promoted the “Without a REAL ID, You Can’t Fly” LIE.
In the fine print, and online, TSA acknowledges 15 other acceptable documents to verify identity for the purposes of boarding an airplane, including a passport and passport card, and also states that you can fly without an ID of any type but may be subject to additional screening steps: https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening/identification Even the 2008 REAL ID rule, which TSA/DHS is moving to enforce today, acknowledges this fact: “DHS notes that individuals without a REAL ID-compliant document will still be able to enter federal facilities and board commercial aircraft and these rules cannot determine what alternative documents are acceptable for those purposes.”
CCHF | 161 Rondo Avenue, Suite 923 | St. Paul, MN 55103 | 651-646-8935 | www.cchfreedom.org 4. DMV COLLUSION– State agencies and government bureaucrats colluded with AAMVA and DHS to secretly receive funding and implement REAL ID requirements despite 25 states having laws prohibiting conformance with REAL ID and 12 states passing resolutions opposing REAL ID.
In a 2020 article by Magdalena Krajewska titled, “Implementing the REAL ID Act: Intergovernmental Conflict and Cooperation in Homeland Security Policy,” she wrote: “Nevertheless, it is telling that despite what was happening at the higher level, DMV chiefs were largely cooperative with the REAL ID Office. One interviewee said that although some governors prohibited their states from becoming compliant with REAL ID, those states still implemented perhaps 95 percent of the Act’s requirements. State DMVs would use the language of being “consistent” with the Act’s requirements, rather than “compliant,” thereby avoiding embarrassing their governors, while at the same time making the licenses more secure.”
5. SOLE CONTROL – The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security has unilateral authority to expand the uses of REAL ID or requirements in the future.
The 2005 federal REAL ID law states: “the term ‘official purpose’ includes but is not limited to accessing Federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants, and any other purposes that the Secretary shall determine.”
In the 2008 REAL ID rule by DHS, they wrote. “DHS does not agree that it must seek approval of Congress as a prerequisite to changing the definition in the future. . . as 201(3) of the Act gives discretion to the Secretary of Homeland Security to determine other purposes.
6. DIGITAL ID IN THE WORKS – The American Association of Motor Vehicle
Administrators (AAMVA) shared testimony with the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on December 5, 2023, where they supported putting the REAL ID on mobile phones where it could be accessed by the government and updated in real time.
Video: https://homeland.house.gov/hearing/identity-management-innovation-looking- beyond-real-id/; Written Testimony: http://bit.ly/3DXXmrO
7. ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES – Per the 2025 rule, 44% of driver’s licenses and IDs nationwide were not REAL ID compliant cards, and fearful Americans are flooding DMVs.
The final TSA rule issued January 14, 2025, permits “progressive enforcement” for two years (May 7, 2025 - May 5, 2027), including a suggested “three-strikes” action against travelers without REAL IDs or TSA-acceptable documentation. However, TSA notes a “three strikes” database system may be difficult to fund and use. TSA also notes concern about “public backlash” at airports if people are denied permission to fly. (https://bit.ly/4jnmUxg)
No American should be refused access to federal facilities or threatened with not being able to board a plane for failure to submit to an unconstitutional National ID card and system. To restore individual and states’ rights, unconstitutional REAL ID rules should be rescinded, the federal REAL ID law should be repealed, and state-conforming laws should be repealed.
Updated April 8, 2025
Also:
Just days remain in public comment time for REAL ID's new regulation
An organization continues to push for the public to submit comments on REAL ID.
What aspects of the REAL ID regulation concerns you the most? (Select 2) (Poll Closed)
Potential for data privacy issues 46.72% (1,024 votes)
Increased requirements for identification 25.82% (566 votes)
Confusion over state compliance 14.05% (308 votes)
Impact on travel convenience 8.58% (188 votes)
Costs associated with obtaining new IDs 4.83% (106 votes)
Total Votes: 2,192
Citizens' Council for Health Freedom (CCHF) is calling on the American public to submit comments on the latest REAL ID regulation issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
"TSA and DHS plan to make citizens suffer until they submit," Twila Brase, president and co-founder of Citizens' Council for Health Freedom said in a press release. "REAL ID is more than just a government ID; it's an unconstitutional usurpation of individual and states' rights that gives the Secretary of Homeland Security unilateral authority to decide what it must be used for, far beyond access to commercial airlines."
Deadline looms
Homeland Security has on its website a 'Countdown to REAL ID Enforcement,' adding that on May 7, 2025, travelers must be REAL ID compliant to board domestic flights and access certain federal facilities. An FAQ section also shares the following information:
"Passed by Congress in 2005, Homeland Security states the REAL ID Act enacted the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the Federal Government "set standards for the issuance of sources of identification, such as driver's licenses."
Brase, Twila (CCHF) Brase
The Act established minimum security standards for state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards and prohibits certain federal agencies from accepting for official purposes licenses and identification cards from states that do not meet these standards. These purposes are: access certain federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, and entering nuclear power plants."
CCHF is concerned because REAL ID could one day be used in the health care sector.
"It's a National ID, as Sen. Lamar Alexander once said from the floor of the U.S. Senate, a National ID pushed by state DMVs that want to put it on everyone's phone where it can be remotely controlled," said Brase. "Americans must speak up now before the October 15 deadline to stop the continued enforcement of this unconstitutional federal identification and control system."
Punishment from the Feds
The proposed TSA/DHS regulation presents several actions including but not limited to:
• No further extension of the May 7, 2025 deadline
• A two-year period of progressive enforcement of the REAL ID deadline to end on May 7, 2027
• Authorization for progressive consequences for those who present without a REAL ID compliant ID
Consequences could include written warnings for travelers arriving at airport security checkpoints without a REAL ID or potential delays at security checkpoints as officials estimate that 30% of state-issued IDs would not be compliant by May 2025.
There could also be additional costs associated with efforts to obtain a REAL ID at the last minute.
The deadline to file a public comment is Tuesday, October 15.