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For real this time: After many delays, REAL ID deadline looms

05:38

Here & Now Newsroom

February 04, 2025

A sign at the federal courthouse in Tacoma, Wash., is shown on April 6, 2016, to inform visitors of the federal government's REAL ID Act, which requires state driver's licenses and ID cards to have security enhancements and be issued to people who can prove they are legally in the United States. (Ted S. Warren/AP)

Domestic flights will soon require more secure identification cards. REAL ID enforcement begins May 7, two decades after former President George W. Bush signed a law mandating them. But more than a third of circulating IDs still aren't compliant.

We discuss the challenges of implementing the law with Don Lombardo, the acting assistant administrator for enrollment services and vetting programs. His office oversees the REAL ID initiative.

This segment aired on February 4, 2025.

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