REFUSE REAL ID

Real ID is an unconstitutional Federal (national) ID card that will end state and personal sovereignty. U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) has introduced the “Safeguarding Personal Information Act” (S.2769) to fully repeal the 2005 REAL ID Act. Contact your U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator and ask them to support this bill. TAKE ACTION TODAY

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“This really is a National Identification card for the United States of America for the first time in our history. We’ve never done this before, and we shouldn’t be doing it without a full debate… I’m very, very reluctant for this country to have a National ID card . . .” – U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander during the 2005 Senate floor debate on REAL ID

“By federalizing driver licensing the REAL ID Act usurps this power which has been reserved to the states.” – Letter to President Trump from 116 Pennsylvania legislators, January 30, 2017

$45 PENALTY AT AIRPORT: The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing a new “modernized alternative identity verification program” with an $45 penalty (“fee”) for travelers who arrive at airport checkpoints without a REAL ID, or other acceptable ID. You can STILL FLY with the 15 other forms of TSA-acceptable ID, including your passport and passport card. Read CCHF’s STATEMENT on this fee.

SIX POINTS — REAL ID SYSTEM

FEDERAL ID

REAL ID is a Federal ID masquerading as a State Driver’s License.

It’s the foundation of a federal control system. By merging state DMVs under one federal standard, the REAL ID Act transforms local licensing into a system of federal control — a direct threat to state and personal sovereignty.

CCHF Public Comment

FACIAL RECOGNITION

REAL ID enables biometric-based surveillance.

To create a nationwide facial recognition system, the federal government claims the right to collect and catalog the coordinates of your body — your unique facial geometry and other physical attributes — for its own control. These “biometric coordinates” are the building blocks of a total surveillance and control system.

DIGITAL ID

DMVs plan to digitize the REAL ID, put it on your phone, and have remote access to it.

According to sworn AAMVA testimony before Congress on December 5, 2023, state motor-vehicle agencies intend to make the REAL ID digital, install it on smartphones, and maintain real-time remote access.

AAMVA Testimony

SOCIAL CREDIT SYSTEM

REAL ID establishes the framework for a digitized, biometric-controlled social-credit system.

By integrating facial-recognition technology, DMV databases, and remote access, REAL ID creates the digital infrastructure of a China-style social-credit or carbon-credit system. This is a threat to individual freedom, medical privacy, and citizen autonomy.

DOMESTIC PASSPORT

The law allows required uses for the Federal REAL ID to expand far beyond flying.

Under federal statute, the Department of Homeland Security can add “any other purposes the Secretary shall determine.”

Future mandates could include medical care, banking, gun purchases, employment, college admission, or internet access.

YOU CAN FLY

Don’t buy the lie that you can’t fly without a REAL ID.

Indeed you may be able to fly without any ID, according to Gilmore vs. Gonzalez. Processes are in place today if you lose your ID, including questions you need to answer (i.e. What was the color of your first car?) and search of your luggage.

TSA Website

REAL ID HELPFUL HANDOUTS

HISTORY OF REAL ID

2005: Congress passed an unconstitutional law pushing a national identification card for all Americans.

2008: The Department of Homeland Security issued a rule forcing states to comply by issuing federal REAL IDs for driver’s licenses and ID cards.

2024: The TSA finalized a rule creating a new enforcement track for travelers without REAL ID, laying the groundwork for escalating federal pressure tied to air travel rather than state law.

Feb. 2026: The TSA will impose a $45 fee on travelers who fly without REAL ID, valid for only 10 days.

State resistance: More than half the states pushed back—25 states passed laws blocking compliance, and 12 passed resolutions opposing REAL ID.

Pressure Campaign: After federal REAL ID deadlines repeatedly passed with little state compliance, the false claim that Americans “couldn’t fly” without REAL ID was used to pressure states and the public, by 2018 most states complied.

Flying without REAL ID: Travelers can still use 15 other acceptable forms of identification to fly, as listed on the TSA Website.

TRUCK CARRIES "STOP REAL ID" MESSAGE

This map traces the journey of the Refuse REAL ID message as it travels across North America on a working freight truck driven by a North Carolina–based truck driver, photographer, and longtime health freedom advocate. As he delivers goods coast to coast, he has volunteered his truck to carry the message opposing federal REAL ID, bringing awareness directly to highways, towns, and communities across the country. Keep an eye out—you may spot his truck on the road—and check back to see where our “Truth about REAL ID” message appears next.

TAKE ACTION

1. Contact your U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative and ask them to withdraw the TSA “progressive enforcement” rule and repeal the law. CLICK HERE.