Floridians Against Real-ID rebuttal continued to the "absolute necessity" of national ID card program, as reported in Homeland Security News

Dear Editor,

I represent a group of citizens in Florida that are opposed to the federal REAL ID law. A friend sent me your recent posting regarding Kaye Beach fighting REAL ID in Oklahoma that is located here.

I wanted to add some other concerns that were not addressed by Ms. McNeill (formerly of the Heritage Foundation and now apparently a congressional staffer) or brought up in the original posting. I have a law enforcement background, and spent the final 5 years of my career with the Florida Highway Patrol in the Bureau of Investigations, which handles ID theft and driver license fraud investigations. I am well aware of what it takes to investigate fraud, having done so for several years.

Here are some areas of concern-

1) The 2005 federal law is unconstitutional- Congress does not have the authority to tell the states how to issue their own driver's licenses under Article 1 Section 8. The 10th Amendment reserves this power to the states. By requiring the states to seize personal papers without cause or a warrant, it violates the 4th Amendment at the state level. One of the reasons why we have a mountain of debt and a federal deficit each year is the unconstitutional expansion of the federal government. REAL ID is one such example. The fact the original bill (HR 418) couldn't be enacted on it's own and the act had to be snuck in with a defense authorization and Tsunami relief bill speaks volumes as to the validity of it. Like any unconstitutional law, it will remain on the books until someone with enough money comes along to challenge it in court or the state legislatures address it as a sovereignty issue.

2) While there is not a single database, the several databases are in fact linked, and all documents scanned are in them. This is similar to placing all of your money in one bank with several branches. If hackers infiltrate one, they can compromise the remainder, and all information is compromised. There is a second concern regarding employees that have access to all of this data. Any system is only as secure as the person that has access to it.

3) The 2005 law (HR 1268) contains the phrase "federal identification" in Section 202 (d)(11)(A). This is a prima facie instance of the function of a national ID card. If the federal government wishes to issue ID cards for the first three stated federal purposes under Section 201 (3), they should do so instead of passing the buck to the states for the dirty work.

4) The 2005 law in Section 201 (3) gives unlimited power to the unelected Homeland Security Secretary in the fourth stated purpose as to when a REAL ID can be required.

5) REAL ID as implemented will not prevent fraud. We saw this recently here in Florida when a Deputy Sheriff stopped a vehicle and the driver, wanted for murder out of state, produced a REAL ID license. Read the news story here. It's still a relatively simple matter to dummy up a few documents and obtain a REAL ID.

6) The law has cost the taxpayer over $10 million here in Florida since 2008 (DMV figures when I inquired). It has yet to identify one illegal alien or terrorist. The "federal" money did not cover all expenses. The DMV representative told me it was $7.22 million in "federal" money and $2.95 million in state money. Keep in mind over 90% of all federal revenue comes from the taxpayers, so there is no such thing as "federal" money in the amounts commonly referred to.

7) I speak about this issue to area groups in North Florida. I hear first hand how it has affected people. One older woman told me she had to spend $400 to legally change her name just to renew her license. The law causes a number of hardships for women that have been married and divorced. After it was implemented here in January 2010, a lady wrote to the Tallahassee Democrat how she could not renew her license due to a county in Georgia losing her divorce paperwork from 30 years ago. The law has also had the undesired consequence of invalidating state-level protective laws for police officers, judges, and domestic violence victims, all of whom do not want their residential address on their license and used to have it protected under state law.

8) Heritage held a conference on this issue in June 2011. They failed to have any qualified opposition present, such as Jim Harper of the CATO Institute. Looking at Heritage's own publication regarding the several failed terror plots since 9/11/01, one sees there is no linkage whatsoever to state driver's licenses and these plots being prevented. The plots were prevented by courageous airline passengers and good lawful police work. In many instances, the suspects involved likely qualified and may have held a REAL ID compliant license. The report is located here.

I have written about the Heritage Foundation on this issue recently here. I have a page devoted to some common myths about REAL ID here on our website.

My contact information is below. I would enjoy speaking to you on this issue, as there are many more points of concern.

Sincerely,

Paul Henry
Floridians Against REAL ID
http://www.liberty2010.org/realid

EVerify Program Hurting Workers, Business & our Economic Recovery

Face recognition and social media meet in the shadows

ACTION ALERT: Legal circulators & volunteers needed in Tallahassee

The employment marketplace, E-Verify and the US immigration climate

CEI analyst Alex Norwrasteh digests today's Immigration climate for reform, The Legal Workforce Act bill (HR 2164), DHS' RIDE initiative, the E-Verify database & an anniversary for SB 1070.

This is the other pic of Alex Nowrasteh.

REFERENCE ARTICLES & MEDIA


The Legal Workforce Act (HR 2164)

• IN FAVOR: MANDATORY E-VERIFY: 2 more co-sponsor Chairman Smith's bill 
• OPPOSED:Privacy groups protest proposed E-Verify bill

Jim Harper on FOX's Freedom Watch covers E-Verify *cited during Interview

WHY (EVVE) RIDE Initiative may lead State's to Real ID certification

Can Real ID live up to it's base security framework for driver's licenses?

BTC- Homeland Security News performed an exit interview with Heritage fellow, Jena Baker McNeil, who expressed Real ID is "absolutely necessary".  To our shock and awe, she conveyed belief that Real ID is not a national ID system.

"HSNW: The Department of Homeland Security insists that REAL ID is not a national ID instead it only imposes federal standards for IDs but leaves the operation and maintenance of databases in the hands of states. Despite these claims, would you consider REAL ID to constitute a national ID?

JBM: I agree with DHS. There is not a single database created to serve REAL ID. It simply directs states to network their own databases together so that they can talk to one another and try to identify fraud. No one in the federal government will be able to access any information—meaning there is nothing “national” about the process."

To wit, I asked State and national advocates to chime in her recalculation of the relevance of Real ID.

The First Responder on the scene was Pennsylvania voice of veteran advocate, Aaron Bollenger.

"This is all part of the NCIC Clarksburg, WV data hub. Who has access? States. Where is biometric info collected? States. The statement that “no one in the fed gov will be able to access any information” is just a rude LIE. This “network” also includes members of the AAMVA, who has their own collection of info. Picture a government-access-only Internet teeming with info on the lives of their sheep. That’s what this is all about. “National ID” is a matter of semantics, and a question of degree. All irrelevant when the reality is the data IS being collected AND shared."

There is the hanging question of what happens to the license information funnelled through the private network handlers at AAMVA. This government information clearinghouse contractor is networked over all of the US and almost every province of Canada. They could provide such a service. What, if anything, would be stopping them?

The majority of what has driven Real ID's continental network for secured license standards so far has been AAMVA's drivers license security framework.  A point of real grief for States has been coming along the sidelines making determinations on less nefarious points of the framework standards: tamper proof laminates, holograms, magnetic strips, the bar codes etc.  Immigration enforcement implications, costs of implementation, privacy violations, public outrage over lengthy lines and extreme demand on proof of identity conventions created many States' wedge on what is known as Real ID today.

One ofthe "Business Requirements" from the AAMVA framework is that,"All North American MVAs shall accept and endorse the eight privacy principles  as specified in Appendix “05-4.5-03 Privacy Principles.” 

These principles put limits on data retention, acknowledge persons rights to examine information kept about themselves and requests for corrections, disclosure limitations, information security and the public be made aware about all systems and databases where their license information is held.

"Each MVA shall ensure it has a means to oversee the previously mentioned principles."

So why the big frakas over Real ID? It could be the penchant for internal fraud. This haunting problem has not been overcome as recently as this week. It might be a key reason in deducing why REAL ID shouldn't be a requirement at all, much less a necessity. MVA's don't yet completely have the wield to justify the additional responsibility to live up to the security rigors of REAL ID.

States, like Florida, who have created literally impossible requirements for drivers to provide proof of identity.  License offices have been aggregating anything from marriage records to biometrics in a local database. There is literally no assurance that this information won't suddenly become part of a DMV information moonlight sale to ANYONE.

The Heritage Institute cannot assure New York or Florida license holders that their data will be safe when local drivers license administrators are corrupting fundamental information and license security holding patterns.  Unfortunately, license holders in most Northeastern seaboard States are also sitting ducks.  The ugly truth is local license admins are undermining the relevance of Real ID with much better success than millions of angry license holders and an army of immigration lawyers.

There is no real way to hold up AAMVA's "driver's license agreement" because the stone truth is no matter how secure an ID card may be - the information space where it is held is not.

Forbes' TravelGeek tackles Trusted Traveller demand for Real ID

*Special thanks to working activists Phil Mocek & Edward Hasbrouck

To get the deep scoop on items like Trusted Traveller, Passenger Name Recognition and other stern demands for traveller identity in real-time , visit PapersPlease.org 

You can also stay on top of regional action alerts to respond to increased demand for identity from the US Travel Association.