TSA to enforce Real ID checks, may cause airport delays
Story Highlights TSA begins enforcing Real ID checks at airports on May 7.
Florida has 99% Real ID compliance, but rates vary by state.
Travelers without compliant IDs may experience delays at security checkpoints.
Travelers could experience delays starting on May 7 as the Transportation Security Administration begins enforcing Real ID checks at airports.
Florida has a 99% Real ID compliance rate, according to the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles. Those stats vary from state to state, and roughly 81% of travelers currently present an acceptable form of identification, according to TSA.
However, TSA said it is preparing for delays as it has been alerted that many travelers rushing to comply are having trouble finding available appointments to get their state-issued IDs updated.
'If you don't have the Real ID, or a passport or another acceptable form of ID by May 7, then you're probably going to experience some delays at the checkpoint,' Mark Howell, regional spokesperson for TSA, told the Business Journal. 'I don't think there's going to be a kind of systemic issue with screening at the checkpoints, but the individuals [who] aren't prepared come the enforcement date may have some additional waits and screenings.'
'While we know we have a very good compliance rate here in Florida, we know we will have some passengers — especially those from other states — who may get stopped and delayed at the TSA checkpoint for Real ID non-compliance, and that creates a customer experience issue we try to avoid here,' said Tampa airport spokeswoman Emily Nipps.
The Real ID Act was created in 2005 after the 9/11 Commission found it was too easy to obtain driver's licenses in the U.S. It wasn't until 2020 that all 50 states became compliant with their respective licensing requirements.
Driver's licenses and ID cards are compliant if they have a star marking on one of the top corners. Howell said there have been several instances where people rushing to get a compliant ID fail to check what documentation they need to bring to their appointments and then must reschedule, which often is several weeks out.
The looming deadline will 'raise the baseline' of identification security features to make it harder for fraudulent or stolen IDs to be used when people travel. Howell said there are still 'some bad actors' attempting to use fraudulent IDs to move around the country, which this new enforcement will help crack down on.
'We had someone who had a fraudulent ID a few months back that was actually somebody else's identification,' Howell said. 'The technology we had at the security checkpoint when they put that ID in didn't match the person standing in front of them. They called it in and found out that the person had an open warrant, and she was arrested.'
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