States flouting post-9/11 ID law, giving cards to illegal immigrants that mirror licenses

After the 9/11 attacks, Congress passed the REAL ID Act to prevent foreign nationals from fraudulently obtaining a U.S. driver's license -- by requiring that any ID issued based on unverifiable foreign documents look different in "design or color" from an official driver's license.

That way, TSA and other law enforcement would know the ID holder might not be who they say they are.

But more than a decade later, several state and local governments are openly flouting the law, issuing ID cards that are barely distinguishable from a bona fide driver's license. That means those with mere ID cards, like illegal immigrants, might be able to pass off their cards as a driver's license at the airport and elsewhere -- creating a huge gap in security.

Examples include Washington, D.C., and Colorado ...

In Colorado, the distinguishing characteristic for the ID cards is a small black band ...

In passing Real ID, Congress said the law was about security, not about stigmas. Indeed, three 9/11 hijackers had obtained state IDs using fraudulent documents. One had four IDs from two states. Among them, the 33 hijackers had 33 state driver's license ...

Verification problems have fueled changes at the [Utah] state level.

In 2011, Utah issued 'Marcelo Marquez' a state driver's privilege card. At the time, getting the card required multiple identifying documents, but no fingerprints or photo. It turned out the source documents were fakes.

Marquez was really Luis Enrique Monroy-Bracamonte, deported twice for violent crimes and drug dealing. Bracamonte used the Utah ID to get around the country until last year, when he killed two California deputies after a car chase ...

Related articles

HB-1224 - the Colorado Secure and Verifiable Identity Document Act

SB13-251 - Driver's licenses for illegal aliens: Driver's License & Identification Documentation