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National ID

New York residents line up at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to apply for a REAL ID. | Niyi Fote/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom

National ID

DMV Officials Issued Driver's Licenses for Cash. Why Will REAL ID Be Any Different?

Bureaucratic requirements impose burdens only on people not inclined to break the law.

J.D. Tuccille | 7.9.2025 7:00 AM

People in a long line, seen from above, waiting to get a REAL ID at an Illinois Department of Motor Vehicles. | TANNEN MAURY/UPI/Newscom

Surveillance

With REAL ID, America Now Has National ID Cards and Internal Passports

To make us safer, the feds required standardized ID and one-stop shopping for identity thieves.

J.D. Tuccille | 5.23.2025 7:00 AM

Real ID against an orange background | lllustration: Eddie Marshall | Rickk6rj | Dreamstime.com | Midjourney

Bureaucracy

Is REAL ID Actually Happening?

The law was passed 20 years ago, and enforcement finally looms.

Emma Camp | 4.24.2025 3:25 PM

Large image on homepages | Cory Doctorow/flickr

Privacy

National I.D. By Any Other Name Still Stinks

A patchwork of state-level systems accomplishes what Americans have specifically rejected, and perhaps far more.

Alec Ward | 1.30.2018 1:35 PM

Large image on homepages | Wikicommons, US Dept of Homeland Security, CC

Policy

How Immigration Reform Will Harm U.S. Citizens

E-verify means new restrictions on both immigrants and citizens.

Steve Chapman | 6.6.2013 12:00 PM

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