Libertarians are urging President Trump to push back the enforcement date for the Real ID or kill the new federal issuing standards altogether, which have been two decades in the making. Fears of chaos at airports next month are rising as millions of Americans will soon lack the necessary documentation to fly domestically.

The Homeland Security Department confirmed on Friday that the Real ID Act will be enforced starting next month. “On May 7, TSA will no longer accept state-issued identifications that are not Real ID compliant at TSA security checkpoints. All airline passengers 18 years and older, including TSA PreCheck members, must present Real ID-compliant identification or another acceptable ID, such as a passport,” a notice said. Military identification cards are also acceptable. 

The new standards for licenses and identification cards were first established by Congress in 2005. The Real ID Act required that all states become compliant with federal requirements for issuing identification cards, though it took far longer to get states certified than originally intended. Real ID standards were meant to be enforced beginning in 2008, though the enforcement day kept getting pushed back because states and territories were not compliant.

According to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security is already tracking who has the necessary documents. In recent weeks, the federal government says about 80 percent of travelers moving through airports had identification that meets federal standards. There is still a near guarantee that some people will have their travel plans surprisingly cancelled when they show up to fly on or after May 7 with the new ID cards. 

According to a notice in the federal register, as of January 2024, just over half of state-issued drivers licenses were compliant with new federal standards. In 22 states, less than 40 percent of state identification cards were compliant.

Some of the requirements for Real IDs are that the person’s photograph, signature, and full name be included. The cards must also be machine-readable. In order to issue a Real ID to someone, states and territories must get at least two documents with the applicant’s address, and their birth certificate must be run through a federal database. 

Small government advocates say that the program isn’t necessary. For example, the September 11 plane hijackers would not have been stopped had the federal standards been in place at the time because they were foreign nationals. 

“Real ID isn’t needed and won’t stop terrorists from hijacking planes.  Most of the 9/11 hijackers held Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, or Lebanese passports,” Congressman Thomas Massie writes on X. “Real ID is a national standard and database of IDs that is primarily a tool for control of Americans. Trump shouldn’t enforce it.”

A former Alaska governor and the GOP’s 2008 vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, was clearly unhappy about a reminder that the new flying requirement is going into effect next month. 

Responding to a video from the homeland security secretary reminding people to get their new identification, she said on social media, “Evidently existing ID requirements for American citizens just aren’t adequate now, so big brother is forcing us through more hoops for the ‘right’ to travel within our own country.”

“Other administrations delayed this newfangled, burdensome Real ID requirement. Are you curious why its implementation is imperative now?? And who came up with this?” she said. 

Conservative radio host Erick Erickson said the same, arguing that the federal government has no role in setting identification standards for state governments. 

“Real ID is an encroachment upon federalism. The states issue driver’s licenses, not the federal government,” Mr. Erickson writes. “Real ID attempts to bind the semi-sovereign states to a national government goal that encroaches on the 10th Amendment.”

The American Civil Liberties Union says their biggest concern about Real ID enforcement is the creation of a “mega-database” home to tens of millions of Americans’ personal information that could be accessed by identity thieves. 

“First, it consolidates Americans’ personal information into a network of interlinking databases accessible to the federal government and bureaucrats throughout the 50 states and U.S. territories. This national mega-database would invite government snooping and be a goldmine for identity thieves,” the group says.