Air travelers in the U.S. without a REAL ID will be charged a $45 fee beginning in February, the Transportation Security Administration announced Monday.
The updated ID has been required since May, but passengers without it have so far been allowed to clear security with additional screening and a warning. The Department of Homeland Security says 94% of passengers are already compliant and that the new fee is intended to encourage travelers to obtain the ID.
REAL ID is a federally compliant state-issued license or identification card that meets enhanced requirements mandated in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
That doesn’t sound right. If there’s a list of wanted or potentially dangerous terrorists or criminals, and I provide ID showing that I am not one of those people, isn’t that a security reason for showing ID?
Who makes that list? The same group of people labeling antifa as terrorists? If a person has no weapons and still is “too dangerous” to be on a plane, why are they not in jail?
ID isn’t making anything more secure in the context of the airport, it’s just surveillance and another way to limit/punish people extrajudicially.
I think that’s the point, they’ll get arrested if they try to fly. Doesn’t that make things more secure?
Sure, if the no fly list was made by putting evidence in front of a judge. It’s not though, people end up on there without being in legal trouble all the time. It can and has been used for political ends, and the lack of transparency makes it effectively useless.
It’s only useless for its stated purpose, not its actual purpose.
Fair point
Okay that’s true but if we circle back to my original point, it would seem that asking to see ID makes sense from a security standpoint.
But it doesn’t, because being on that list doesn’t actually have any specific requirements.
I think there are some requirements, might not be fair, but they exist. Also I’m pretty sure wanting to blow up a plane is one of them.