Real ID Act

We're here, we're celebrating our Constitution.

And you know what has become official today? Real ID goes live.

We've been talking about this for a while.

You're all aware of what was happening here, but it went live.

Every single time I go to the airport, and I fly a lot, you know that about me.

And everybody comes marching in.

Here's my ID.

Okay, and can you just stand in front of this camera? We're gonna take a picture of you.

We are very grateful that Legislature Larigo listened to our concerns and helped make this improvement possible, Carpathio said.

The Erie County Auto Bureau has been recognized for its efforts to help residents obtain Real ID compliant identification, with Erie County reporting one of the highest compliance rates in New York State.

Erie County Clerk Michael P. Kearns recently accepted a proclamation recognizing the Auto Bureau's work.

According to 2025 New York State Department of Motor Vehicles data, 62% of eligible Erie County residents are REAL ID compliant compared with approximately 51% statewide.

Erie County residents have obtained 423,598 REAL ID credentials and 57,524 enhanced credentials for a combined 481,122 federally compliant credentials.

Across the eight counties in the County Clerks Association's western region, 736,368 real ID and enhanced credentials have been issued.

Niagara County has also a 62% compliance rate.

Erie County, however, has issued significantly more compliant credentials because of its larger population.

Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, signed by President Bill Clinton, granted the Secretary of Homeland Security broad authority... to construct border infrastructure and the power to waive all legal requirements, including environmental and cultural protection laws, in order to do so quickly.

This authority was later expanded by the Real ID Act of 2005.

When combined, These two pieces of decades-old legislation have made it so that one official signature can set aside key legislation like the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, and the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.

These are the foundational laws governing public lands and historic and culturally significant sites in the U.S. and control what can happen and where.

Until now.

On February 17, 2026, then-DHS Secretary Kristi Noem signed a waiver setting aside 28 federal laws, including the Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, to fast-track the installation of a barrier system through both Big Bend National Park and Big Ben Ranch State Park next door.

She did this by invoking the authority ascribed to her by the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act and Real ID Act mentioned earlier in this episode, with funding provided by Trump's Big Beautiful Bill.

So began the confusing series of declarations and reversals that have defined this project and the Trump administration as a whole.

When we come back, final segment of the show, we've got Mark's travel tips and we'll wrap up the show.

And we will be talking about real ID and passports.

This is important.

If you're traveling, we always talk about having the proper documentation to travel.

Coming up in this segment, the final segment of the show, Mark and I will be talking about travel IDs.

And we got a text a little bit earlier this week from one of our listeners, Jessica2426.

She had some questions about real ID.

And we're also going to be talking about a passport mistakes.

So just huge shout-out to our friend Dave Bledsoe for helping me get home in my dream last night.

night.Like you always say, Andrew, when you dream travel, you don't need a Real ID.

[laughs] That's what I always say.

That is-

That's one of the things you've always said.

I ha- I said it even before 9/11 and before the Real ID Act-

Mm-hmm

... which was interesting.

Real ID is alive.

Miss it at a TSA, and you pay $45 and give biometrics, or you don't fly.

Pair it with Flock's nationwide plate reader grid, and everyone is being tracked.

It's, it's God's will that they're out there, folks.

But it's an absolute fulfillment of Bible prophecy, and I wanted to share that with you today.

I'm sorry I didn't get to the Real ID stuff.

Probably talk about that on Wednesday.

But, um, unless something bigger comes along, right? But so much going on right now, prophecies happening on every side.

It's a story that also looks into one of the first insidious anti-immigrant policies that was created as a result of 9-11.

It's called The Real ID.

Producer Alejandra Salazar is going to start us off.

The first year of the new millennium was one for the history books.

And the entire reason for its existence is based on a single idea, that immigrants pose an ongoing threat to this country.

An idea that was crystallized after 9-11, and that we're still grappling with to this day.

Coming up on Latino USA, we learn about the Real ID, a seemingly innocuous federal legislation that helped push undocumented drivers into a colliding path with ICE.

Stay with us.