Noem Says Americans Without REAL ID by Deadline Can Still Fly

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem said that travelers who lack a REAL ID can still board domestic flights for the time being, even after the requirement takes effect starting on Wednesday.

While speaking to a House panel on Tuesday, Noem said that people without a REAL ID will likely face additional procedures until they are allowed past an airport security checkpoint.

Noem told the hearing that “we will be honoring passports [and] other federally recognized IDs” and that tribal IDs will be recognized at airport checkpoints.

“What will happen tomorrow is folks will come through the line, and [those travelers] will issue their ID, and show it. If it’s not compliant, they may be diverted to a different line, have an extra step, but people will be allowed to fly,” Noem told lawmakers.

The REAL ID enforcement date has been delayed numerous times since Congress passed the measure in 2005 in a bid to improve national security after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. Officials in December 2022 pushed back the REAL ID enforcement deadline until May 2025.

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TSA said in early April that passengers who are 18 or older without passports or the enhanced IDs “can expect to face delays, additional screening and the possibility of not being permitted into the security checkpoint.”

According to the DHS, other acceptable identification can be shown in a TSA checkpoint, including enhanced driver’s licenses issued in New York, Washington, Michigan, Minnesota, and Vermont. DHS-trusted traveler cards such as Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, and FAST, as well as Department of Defense IDs, permanent resident cards or green cards, border crossing cards, a Canadian-issued driver’s license or ID card, and several other forms of government IDs are also acceptable alternatives.

“We recognize that this is a security issue,” Noem also said on Tuesday. “Congress has had many, many years to reevaluate it and decide if they wanted to change the law or to stop it, and the Biden administration chose that it should go into place on May 7.”

The secretary said that about 81 percent of travelers already have REAL ID-compliant cards.

“We intend to follow the law, so we will make sure that it is as seamless as possible, and that travelers will get to stay on their intended itinerary,” Noem said, noting that “we are telling people that this law will be enforced, and it will allow us to know individuals in this country, who they are and that they’re authorized to travel.”

Noem said earlier this week that 19 states issue driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, and enforcing the REAL ID will deny those individuals the ability to travel by air.

Many Americans travel by airplane just once or twice a year, and under former President Joe Biden last year, the TSA had said it was considering giving up to three warnings before travelers were told they could not travel on future flights without the new form of identification.

Reuters contributed to this report.