REAL ID Enforcement Begins May 7, 2025 — But you have alternatives (posted 04/13/25, updated 04/14/25, 04/25/25)

ED NOTE
We're planning a full Substack article about REAL ID, collecting various notes -- including this one -- in one convenient location. For now, we hope Note this helps our readers understand, prepare for, and resist this intrusion on our privacy and sovereignty.

What is REAL ID?

From Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “About REAL ID” page at tinyurl.com/5a3akznk:

The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, 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 and identification cards.”

The Act and implementing regulations establish minimum security standards for license issuance and production and prohibit federal agencies from accepting for certain official purposes noncompliant driver’s licenses and identification cards.  

The official purposes covered by the Act and regulation are:

• Accessing certain federal facilities;

• Boarding Federally regulated commercial aircraft; and

• Entering nuclear power plants.

Secure driver's licenses and identification documents are a vital component of our national security framework. DHS/TSA is committed to enforcing the REAL ID Act, therefore, beginning May 7, 2025, anyone 18 years and older that plans to fly domestically or visit certain Federal facilities will need a REAL ID or another acceptable form of identification.

The Act’s prohibitions do not affect other uses of driver’s licenses or identification cards unrelated to official purposes as defined in the Act.

→ The REAL ID Star Card drivers license is NOT mandatory in all states (including Idaho). Click the map on the DHS REAL ID home page at tinyurl.com/2s34tntm to find details for your own state.

→ Expect delays if you arrive for an airline flight without REAL ID or equivalent.

→ TSA does not require children under 18 to provide identification when traveling within the United States. Contact the airline for questions regarding specific ID requirements for travelers under 18.

→ You don't need REAL ID or equivalent to enter federal facilities unless they require a person to present identification. That is, REAL ID (or equivalent) is required for secure federal facilities only. 

🙃 Snarky Question: Must we show REAL ID (or equivalent) to become an inmate at a Federal Prison? Don't want to find out? Neither do we!

Summary of REAL ID and Why You DO NOT Want it

tinyurl.com/bdhsneyk

Sections include:

• Yes, You Can Fly Without a REAL ID

• OFFICIAL STATEMENTS

• UNCONSTITUTIONAL

• STATEMENTS FROM THE 2025 REAL ID RULE

• OFFICIAL REGULATORY LANGUAGE – TSA FINAL RULE 2025

• For more information, go to refuserealid.org

Do You Already Have REAL ID?

You already have REAL ID if your “state enhanced” driver’s license shows a star icon on it. Designs vary by state, but a few examples are shown below. If your license is NOT REAL ID compliant, it likely will include text such as “NOT ACCEPTABLE FOR REAL ID OFFICIAL PURPOSES.“

What Alternative Forms of Identification Can You Use?

• State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License

• U.S. passport: tinyurl.com/3473f7yh

• U.S. passport card: tinyurl.com/yu4432tt

• DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST)

• U.S. Department of Defense ID, including IDs issued to dependents

• Permanent resident card

• Border crossing card

• An acceptable photo ID issued by a federally recognized Tribal Nation/Indian Tribe, including Enhanced Tribal Cards (ETCs). tinyurl.com/mtwv4565

• HSPD-12 PIV card

• Foreign government-issued passport

• Canadian provincial driver’s license or Indian and Northern Affairs Canada card

• Transportation worker identification credential

• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Employment Authorization Card (I-766)

• U.S. Merchant Mariner Credential

• Veteran Health Identification Card (VHIC)

Should You be Concerned About REAL ID? Short answer: YES!

Reference: Financial Rebellion — Reject Real ID, Avoid QR Codes

Reference: Solari — 12 Steps to Total Control graphic

1. REAL ID and Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) are closely linked.

2. Resisting REAL ID, QR Codes, and CBDC is critically important to saving our liberty and avoiding a slave system.

3. REAL ID is being enacted surreptitiously. Many don’t even realize they have a REAL ID driver's license — look for a star in the upper right corner.

4. REAL ID will evolve into a Chinese-style social credit system that assembles ALL our personal/ medical/ financial information on a “convenient” phone app. The phone app likely will be hackable, making all our private information vulnerable.

5. Currently, REAL ID is not required, but they are trying to mandate it — we must resist!

6. Once we’re locked into the system, the powers that be can shut off our finances, directly remove our income tax, prevent us from traveling, etc.

7. This system is unconstitutional and we must resist it. Do Not Comply.

References:

• DHS

  • REAL ID home page (includes a map with requirements for each state): tinyurl.com/2s34tntm

  • About Real ID: tinyurl.com/5a3akznk

  • FAQs about REAL ID: tinyurl.com/bdfsp9wc

  • REAL ID Act of 2005 Keyword Search: tinyurl.com/4k93p3ep

• TSA:

  • Requirements for travel: tinyurl.com/3t5vyksu

  • Acceptable Identification at the TSA Checkpoint: tinyurl.com/y7rr59rb

• Federal Register — Phased Approach for Card-Based Enforcement: tinyurl.com/3y236csz

• Solari Report

  • Pushback​ of the Week: April 7, 2025: Twila Brase and CCHF Fight the REAL ID and Digital Driver’s Licenses: tinyurl.com/2ua3px3r

  • Take Action in Your State on Hot Topic Bills (Pesticide Indemnification, REAL ID, Geoengineering): tinyurl.com/2t939wvz

• Our Substack Notes:

  • 🆕⭐️ Financial Rebellion — Reject Real ID, Avoid QR Codes (Substack Note also explains how to remove the Star designation from your Idaho driver’s license, offers a petition from Stand for Health Freedom): tinyurl.com/ysruj8ev

  • Idaho Legislature: VOTE NO on H0078 Electronic driver's licenses, IDs (FAILED in Senate Transportation Committee): tinyurl.com/4uh43z59