Alabama Congress members request 6 month STAR ID enforcement deadline extension
ALABAMA (WHNT) — Several members of Alabama's Congress have sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to extend the STAR ID enforcement deadline.
Rep. Shomari Figures, Rep. Ro Khanna, Rep. Terri A. Sewell, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson, Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove all signed a formal request on May 2 for the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend the REAL ID (known as STAR ID in Alabama) enforcement date.
The enforcement date, as it stands now, is May 7.
The members of Alabama's Congress are requesting a six-month delay in the enforcement deadline, stating that DMVs are struggling and staffing is constrained, lines are astronomically long and appointments are limited.
'These difficulties are compounded by the cost burdens facing working families, many of whom cannot afford to take time off work or travel long distances to complete the required in-person process,' the letter says.
The members say that in addition to these constraints on getting the REAL ID, DMVs have limited capacity systems that pose a 'disproportionate barrier for elderly individuals, people with disabilities and those without consistent access to transportation.'
Without leniency, the members say that not allowing an enforcement extension puts strain on airport security.
'With the summer travel season approaching, TSA is already preparing for record passenger volumes, with projections exceeding pre-pandemic levels. Imposing the May 7 REAL ID deadline during this peak travel period threatens to further strain an already overextended system. Without flexibility, we risk creating longer lines at security checkpoints, avoidable delays at airports, and considerable confusion among travelers, many of whom may be unaware that their licenses will no longer meet federal identification requirements for boarding flights,' the letter says.
Given all these reasons, the enforcement is requested to be extended until November 7. This would then give state and local agencies time to catch up with demand and help TSA prepare for a smoother implementation process.
You can read the full letter Rep. Figures and other members sent to DHS below.
Other questions associated with the STAR or REAL ID include: How much does it cost, and Can I get my STAR ID online?
'The fee for a STAR ID is $36.25, the same as for a regular Alabama driver's license or non-driver ID card. If citizens choose to wait and obtain their STAR ID at the same time they are renewing their regular license, there is no additional fee from the standard $36.25 renewal fee,' The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said.
The Better Business Bureau of North Alabama is warning people against scammers offering an easy 'order online option.'
'It is federally required that you show up in person to get a star ID, and that comes back to just simply so we can identify, we can lay hands on those documents and we can scan them in and so we can certify them,' ALEA Trooper Brandon Bailey said.
ALEA's website has all the required documents to get your Star ID, including where you can make an appointment. You can click here to go to the ALEA website.
What if I can't get my REAL ID before the enforcement deadline?
If you cannot get your REAL (STAR) ID in time for the May 7 deadline, given that the Alabama extension isn't granted, make sure to have another TSA-approved form of identification if you choose to fly domestically.
TSA lists several options on its website, including:
U.S. passport or passport card
Foreign government-issued passport
Veteran Health Identification Card
DHS trusted traveler cards
Department of Defense ID (including those issued to dependents)
Permanent resident card
and several other options
If this extension is granted, it would not be the first time the Department of Homeland Security offered this for the REAL ID. The REAL ID Act was passed by Congress in 2005 following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. At the time, the 9/11 Commission found that it was too easy for people to obtain driver's licenses.
This being said, the law was scheduled to be enforced in 2008, but because some states were not compliant with it, the deadline was pushed back until 2021.
Following the global COVID-19 pandemic, DHS said all 50 states and four territories became more compliant with the rule. Because of this, the deadline was extended to 2023.
'Many state licensing agencies have extended the deadline for renewing expiring licenses due to a widespread shift to appointment-only scheduling protocols during the pandemic that has significantly limited states' capacity to issue REAL ID-compliant driver's licenses and identification cards. As a result, only 43% of all state-issued driver's licenses and identification cards are currently REAL ID-compliant. DHS and various states also need time to implement requirements mandated by the REAL ID Modernization Act, including changes that will streamline processing by allowing the electronic submission of certain documents,' DHS said.
'As our country continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, extending the REAL ID full enforcement deadline will give states needed time to reopen their driver's licensing operations and ensure their residents can obtain a REAL ID-compliant license or identification card,' DHS Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas said.
Then again, on December 5, 2022, DHS announced that it would extend the original enforcement deadline from May 3, 2023, to May 7, 2025. This extension came due to the lingering effects of the pandemic.
'The extension is necessary, in part, to address the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ability to obtain a REAL ID driver's license or identification card. REAL ID progress over the past two years has been significantly hindered by state driver's licensing agencies having to work through the backlogs created by the pandemic. Many of these agencies took various steps in response to the pandemic, including automatically extending the expiration dates of driver's licenses and identification cards and shifting operations to appointment only.'
DHS
To learn more about the REAL ID and its history, you can visit the DHS website here. For more information on the Alabama STAR ID and how to obtain one, visit ALEA's website here.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Wall Street Journal
9 minutes ago
- Wall Street Journal
‘Proof' Review: Finding Truth in Numbers
Thomas Jefferson's first draft of the Declaration of Independence read: 'We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable . . . ' It was supposedly Benjamin Franklin who suggested instead announcing the truths to be 'self-evident,' as though they were fundamental mathematical axioms providing an incontestable foundation for the new republic. The idea of self-evident truths goes all the way back to Euclid's 'Elements' (ca. 300 B.C.), which depends on a handful of axioms—things that must be granted true at the outset, such as that one can draw a straight line between any two points on a plane. From such assumptions Euclid went on to show, for example, that there are infinitely many prime numbers, and that the angles at the base of an isosceles triangle are equal. If the axioms are true, and the subsequent reasoning is sound, then the conclusion is irrefutable. What we now have is a proof: something we can know for sure. Adam Kucharski, a professor of epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, takes the reader on a fascinating tour of the history of what has counted as proof. Today, for example, we have computerized proofs by exhaustion, in which machines chew through examples so numerous that they could never be checked by humans. The author sketches the development of ever-more-rarefied mathematics, from calculus to the mind-bending work on different kinds of infinity by the Russian-German sage Georg Cantor, who proved that natural integers (1,2,3 . . . ) are somehow not more numerous than even numbers (2,4,6 . . .), even though the former set includes all the elements of the latter set, in addition to the one that contains all odd numbers. My favorite example is the Banach-Tarski paradox, which proves that you can disassemble a single sphere and reconstitute it into two spheres of identical size. Climbing the ladder of proof, we can enter a wild realm where intuitions break down completely. But proof, strictly understood, is only half the story here. Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Kucharski relates, taught himself to derive Euclid's proofs to give himself an argumentative edge in the courtroom and in Congress. Yet politics is messier than geometry; and so the dream of perfectly logical policymaking, immune to quibble, remains out of reach. What should we do, then, when a mathematical proof of truth is unavailable, but we must nonetheless act?
The Hill
11 minutes ago
- The Hill
Texas Republican on deficit spending in GOP bill: ‘It's not a perfect world'
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-Texas) lamented the deficit spending in the GOP's 'big, beautiful' spending package, but framed the issue as a necessary compromise to avoid having to negotiate with Democrats. 'I don't want to have any deficit spending. But what I'm trying to suggest to you is that we are stuck in a paradigm where we have to pass this ourselves,' Sessions told CNN's John Berman in an interview Thursday morning. The Texas Republican said he conceded on demands from a handful of Republicans representing blue-leaning states who pushed to raise the cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions, adding, 'It's a balance there.' 'What we're trying to do is balance out where the American people get jobs and job creation. We really don't want to see people just leave these blue states because of taxes that they can't afford their property,' Sessions said. 'So, it is not a perfect world, John.' He also pointed out that if the sprawling legislative agenda is not passed through the reconciliation process, then Republicans would have to turn to Democrats — which, Sessions argued, would not necessarily reduce deficit spending but would mean less of Trump's agenda could make it through Congress. 'The bottom line is, is that this has to come together as a piece of legislation. You see, John, if we do not pass our one big, beautiful bill, then we negotiate with Democrats, essentially nine Democrats, that simply raises spending to get us where we get the tax cuts that we save them, where they ought to be,' the GOP lawmaker said. 'So it is, no question about it, not a perfect battle for Republicans,' he added. The interview comes amid criticism from tech billionaire Elon Musk that has slowed momentum in the Senate on the bill. The Congressional Budget Office on Wednesday projected that the 1,116-page House passed bill would add $2.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade.
Business Insider
11 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Tesla stock plummets 11% as Musk and Trump exchange barbs over spending bill
Shares of Tesla dropped on Thursday as Trump responded to Elon Musk's criticism of the budget bill. The stock fell as much as 11% as the president and the Tesla CEO traded barbs. Tesla shares are down 24% year-to-date. Tesla shares plummeted as much as 11% on Thursday amid a spat that has been unfolding between the president and the world's richest person over the budget bill moving through Congress. Shares of the carmaker are down 19% year-to-date. Paul Hickey, the co-founder of Bespoke Investment Group, told Business Insider he thinks the Trump-Musk feud over the tax bill was the clear catalyst for Tesla's decline on Thursday. "It could lead to more bad things, punitive actions," Hickey said of Musk's fraying relationship with Trump. "Musk is already kicking himself out of the good graces of the Left. So, if you fell out of the good graces of the Right, that wouldn't necessarily be good." Tesla stock began to fall on Tuesday, shortly after Musk called the GOP tax and spending bill a " disgusting abomination." On Wednesday, he also called on his followers on X to "kill the bill." He's criticized the legislation for its potential to add to the budget deficit and has suggested it would undo the work of the Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk stepped back from last month, Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump responded by saying he was "very disappointed" with Musk's reaction to the tax bill, his first direct response to the Tesla CEO's criticism of the sweeping budget bill that's a cornerstone of Trump's agenda. "Elon knew the inner workings of the bill better than almost anybody sitting here. Better than you people. He had no problem with it. All of sudden he had a problem and he only developed the problem when he found out we're going to have to cut the EV mandate," Trump said. Musk fired back at the president on X, refuting the claim that he knew the contents of the tax bill. "False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night so fast that almost no one in Congress could even read it!" the Tesla CEO wrote. Tesla and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.
