The REAL ID Act, which passed the House in February, sets federal standards for state driver licenses that are considered acceptable ID for federal officers. It provides that states require a person to submit valid documentary evidence that he or she is a U.S. citizen or a lawfully admitted alien before issuing a driver license or identity card.
The Utah Legislature changed the state's law earlier this year to conform with this bill, even though the REAL ID Act is not federal law because the U.S. Senate has not acted on it. The Senate is expected to consider it this month.
The new Utah law provides that undocumented aliens may obtain driver permits, but not driver licenses. The permits specifically say on their face that they are not valid ID for government purposes.
Frankly, the REAL ID Act puts states in a bind. It is in everyone's best interest that all drivers - citizens and foreigners, documented and undocumented alike - take the driver tests, hold a valid permit and obtain car insurance. Denying undocumented people a full driver license singles them out, possibly for deportation, which is why they objected to the new state law so strenuously during the Utah legislative session.
But the United States also has an interest in ensuring that government-issued ID is genuine. As Utah high school students and undocumented workers can tell you, forged driver licenses are readily available for the right price. The REAL ID Act requires states to use anti-fraud devices.
Opponents of the federal act see it as requiring the states to clean up a mess created by failed federal immigration policy. That is true as far as it goes. The ultimate answer lies in immigration reform, including a reasonable guest worker program.
Short of that, the opponents say, this is an anti-immigrant bill. But even if the nation did have a rational immigration policy, it still would want people to carry valid ID, especially when they get on an airplane. The 9-11 commission said as much.
We fail to see why the United States should postpone this reasonable security measure while it waits to reform immigration.
