Many supposedly credible media outlets have made misleading statements saying that REAL ID is going to be required to fly in the USA. Even if we charitably interpret them to mean fly a commercial flight as a passenger where boarding goes through standard screening, this isn’t true.
But until now I hadn’t seen a government source make this false claim. They’ve been more careful. Above false claim image is from the California DMV.
Sooner or later someone is going to sue over a violation of their constitutional rights — not for a REAL ID requirement, which I think the TSA continues to maintain is not required (although they bury it as hard as they can and obscure the language so you need to be a philosopher or lawyer to realize they aren’t requiring it) — because of the false official assertions pressuring them into getting the ID.
If we want a national ID card we should just have the debate and adjust the Constitution if needed and do it. I’m not a radical pounding the table about civil liberties and government intrusion and all that, but this sneaky false messaging in all but the literal fine print really rankles.
Even folks who are very educated and aware, including so-called experts such as news editors, seem to misunderstand the situation, and clearly that’s no accident.
Even the TSA misleadingly calls it a “REAL ID enforcement deadline” in the very text where they make it clear that they won’t be enforcing anything accept that their agents will not automatically by default, as sufficient for identification accept a sub-federal ID that isn’t a REAL ID.
Of course, you’ll notice how sneaky they are in providing a list but not labeling it as merely sufficient rather than necessary.
They also have an erroneous comma in the bullet about Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe ID.