Please read Section 201(3)-(4) of the Real ID Act:

(3) OFFICIAL PURPOSE- The term ‘official purpose’ includes but is not limited to accessing Federal facilities, boarding federally regulated commercial aircraft, entering nuclear power plants, and any other purposes that the Secretary shall determine.

(4) SECRETARY- The term ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Source: https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/real-id-act-text.pdf

In other words, the Secretary of Homeland Security has unilateral authority to expand the uses of real IDs. In their 2008 rule, DHS even doubled down:

“DHS does not agree that it must seek the approval of Congress as a prerequisite to changing the definition in the future (except of course to remove one of the three statutorily-mandated official purposes) as § 201(3) of the Act gives discretion to the Secretary of Homeland Security to determine other purposes.”

Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2008/01/29/08-140/minimum-standards-for-drivers-licenses-and-identification-cards-acceptable-by-federal-agencies-for

That could include voting, accessing medical care, etc. Do you trust Kristi Noem with this power? Do you trust every future secretary with this power?

If not, I urge you to not get a real id if you don’t have one, or turn in your real id for a state one if you do have one, and instead get a passport. The DHS cannot enforce anything if the majority of Americans refuse to get real ids. Let us not just bow down to a national id that invades our privacy and could be used to control us.

  • BussyCat@lemmy.world
    0·
    1 day ago

    They will just prevent you from doing things without it. Like let’s say tomorrow they say you need to show Real ID to vote, if you refuse to get a real ID and only have a normal drivers license it’s not like you would be able to say “ I don’t have a real ID so you have to let me vote anyway” they will just ban you from voting until you get one or an equivalent document I.e. passport

    • WindAqueduct@lemmy.mlOP
      0·
      23 hours ago

      That’ll only true once over 95% of Americans have a real id. Right now, 50-60% of Americans have a real id, and that number needs to go down. Again, the DHS cannot enforce anything if the majority of Americans refuse a real id; the proof of this is the fact it’s taken 20 years to begin “initial enforcement”. With resistance, we can change those 20 years to “never”.