Starting May 7th of this year, if you want to use your state-issued idea driver’s license to travel, it has to be Real ID or Real ID compliant, such as an Enhanced ID.
Real ID is going to be real messy because it already is. It is important, too, to remember that the Real ID Act came about from post-9/11 racism, xenophobia, and anti-immigrantism. It is a mechanism of surveillance that requires additional checks and verifications of biometrics, citizenship, and movement, to largely screen out undocumented immigrants.
To give a related example, the ability to opt out of biometric theft and facial recognition tech at airports has been around as long as the technology has been used at airports, and yet agents have only really become aware of passengers being able to opt out in the past couple of years. The first six or seven years that I opted out when it began, none of the agents knew what I was talking about.
Based on their entire past performance history on anything new being introduced, we know they will not be prepared suddenly on May 7th. It will not be smooth, guaranteed.
I am certain many agents will not actually know what to do, or will, as I’ve documented in the past, flat out lie about it. There is absolutely no incentive for agents to be aware of or share anything that does not conform to surveillance. It makes sense why agents would not know, would lie and say they don’t know, and would even lie and say that a passenger does not have rights.
For the Real ID, there are several symbols that indicate if it is a Real ID as shown below. There are variations of colors and cutouts, and California has a bear with a star.
If you are in one of the five states that also issue Enhanced IDs (Washington Minnesota, Michigan, New York, Vermont), there is a U.S. Flag symbol instead, and it says “ENHANCED” at the top. The Enhanced ID is also Real ID compliant. I would not be surprised, however, if this changed and Enhanced IDs were phased out as permissible for travel.
I can easily anticipate agents stopping people if they have an Enhanced ID as opposed to a Real ID symbol, arguing that it does not comply. Even though it does.
All of the above can and will be used as yet another reason to give People of the Global Majority a difficult time at checkpoints. This is already happening, so there is no reason for them to stop now.
There is a strong movement to not get a Real ID (or Enhanced ID) entirely if you do not need to, and use your passport instead. This leaves more room for those who are unable to obtain one due to various documentation hurdles, to remain safer and part of a larger crowd.
The Department of Homeland Security and TSA share a dozen or so other approved IDs that you can carry when you travel.
However, if you have a passport, I highly recommend carrying that even for domestic travel instead. Even over the passport card.
Protect your passport, let people you trust know your detailed itinerary through a secure method, protect yourself, protect your loved ones, and protect your community because the state will definitely not protect you.
(In related updates, TSA agents have been telling passengers that are opting out of facial recognition and biometric theft at check points that as of May they will be unable to do so because of Real ID updates. This does not even make sense and is currently illegal.)
[TSA website as of March 22, 2025]
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