US Government - Homeland Security and Failure to Execute

Democracy has been said to be a messy process but sometimes it is amazing how ineffective government can be.

Following the 9/11 attacks the US government established a commission to analyze how the attacks were conducted and to make recommendations for changes that would help prevent future attacks. One threat identified was the ease of obtaining fraudulent ID which would make it difficult for the government to track persons of interest. Coordinated law enforcement databases, no fly lists and federal warrants are important tools used to protect the nation from bad actors which are made almost worthless if the bad guys can easily obtain fraudulent ID.  Consequently, Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005 which established minimum requirements for the issuance of ID's by the states that would be acceptable at Federal facilities such as Federal offices or by Federally regulated institutions such as air lines and nuclear power plants. The Real ID Act stipulated minimum requirements for issuing ID's which included verifying the name and address of the applicant and minimum requirements for the physical ID's such as drivers' licenses to make them much more difficult to fake or modify.

Verified identifications with tamper proof IDs clearly make a lot of sense so you might find it surprising how much resistance to the requirements of the Act developed in a number of states. A number of states have argued that the Act is an unfunded mandate and too expensive (India's National ID project issued 600 million biometric ID's for verified applicants in about 4 years), is a violation of privacy rights and impinges on state rights (the ID's would only be required to access Federal facilities and services). I suspect that some states might also object due to the impact on undocumented aliens who would not be able to obtain or renew driver's licenses due to the requirement to document proof of citizenship or legal residency.

Almost 10 years after the passage of the Real ID Act, it was only in 2014 that Real ID compliant identification was required for access to nuclear power plants and restricted areas in federal facilities. Currently, Real ID compliant ID can only be required to board a federally regulated aircraft after DHS conducts a review which can not occur prior to 2016. DHS has delayed the implementation and is now estimating that Real ID compliant identification for boarding commercial aircraft will not be mandated before 2020 - more than 15 years after the passage of the Act and almost 20 years after 9/11.

On a related note, Congress enacted legislation in 1996 referred to as IIRAIRA which required a computerized tracking system for all persons entering and exiting the US.  The entry system has been partially implemented but there is currently no date established for implementation of the exit tracking system.

In both the case of IIRAIRA and the Real ID Act, there have been so many exceptions added over the years that I would question how effective the programs would be even if fully implemented.

It is frustrating to watch so many highly paid legislators and government officials execute so poorly. There is no excuse for the US government to execute so poorly.