Real ID Requirement Finally Comes to U.S. Airports

The signs inside Terminal B at Laguardia airport told the story on Wednesday: “Id real, improved, passport” with an arrow that points to the right and “all the others” with an arrow that points to the left.

After years of warnings and postponements, “everyone else” is no longer enough to fit the airport security control points. Travelers must now flash a real identification that meets the Federal, a passport or other approved form of identification to address national flights.

In Laguardia, the waiting were minimal, and during the morning and afternoon the entire security process of less than five minutes. Many passengers arrived up to three hours before, stopping warnings of delays or complications of the launch of real identification. A large number of employees of the transport security administration, airport staff and police officers flanked security entry, advise travelers who prepare their identifications.

Arthur Perlman, 61, a former Queens teacher who described himself as “a little worried”, arrived four hours before for his flight to Texas. Recently it had been a state identification card and supposed it was a real identification.

But he had Neith a star or an American flag, which means he did not meet. “A week ago, I thought about it and it was:” My God! “” I made a verification of reality. “

Hello, the cards panic, until you learned that a passport is also valid. He had brought it to Laguardia.

The real identification application occurs after 15 years of delays driven by states’ concerns about privacy and steep costs, as well as COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all postponed warnings and deadlines, the government has still struggled to persuade people to obtain real identifications.

The states reported variable rates of real identification compliance before the deadline on Wednesday. In California, it was more than half or all driving licenses or identification cards. In Pennsylvania, it was 28 percent.

Travelers also received mixed messages about what to expect at the airport security control points when the deadline came. While the TSA repeatedly declared that the complete application would begin on Wednesday, Kristi Nem, the Secretary of National Security, said Tuesday that travelers did not have a real document that complied with identification.

Anthony Harris, a 19 -year -old student at Hampton University in Virginia, had flown to Chicago Midway International Airport early Wednesday without a real identification.

Mr. Harris, who had thrown one night to make his 5:45 am flight, said he was not aware of the real identification deadline when he arrived at the airport at 4 am

“I was out of sight and out of mind. I had a leg for a while I went to the airport, so when I got there, I saw the signs and said:” Oh, it’s May 7, “he said.

He was allowed for security after going through an additional projection, but a TSA agent gave him a warning warning: “The identification he presented is not a real identification.”

Within the busy C occupied at the Newark Liberty International Airport, where the failures of the equipment and the problems of air traffic control personnel were captivated more than a week of strong delays, the security lines moved quite quickly, with the average waiting times they fell and the staining and toedoping crossing and Toedoping and Toedoping this Thulhough, Toedoping passing and Toertoough, falls and spending the hours and times earlier. Neither terminal A nor Terminal C seemed to have separate lines for travelers whose documents did not comply with real identification.

Several travelers said they were more concerned about the news that air traffic controllers coordinate in Newark aircraft had briefly lost contact with the planes last week, which led some of the controllers to take a trauma permission of the work.

“The delays are not so much; it was security,” said Marty Springer, a New Jersey resident who was flying to San Francisco using the passport. I had not yet been able to obtain real identification. New Jersey has one of the lowest real identification rates in the country, with about 17 percent of the IDs they supposedly meet as or last week.

Thomas Carter, the Federal Security Director of the TSA for New Jersey, told journalists on Wednesday at Newark airport that the deployment of the real identification application was “without problems”, despite the low rate of fulfillment of New Jersey.

He said there was no firm timeline for when the TSA would strictly apply the actual identification law, and added that the deployment was in the “phase 1”. He said the agency would analyze the data during the next week more or less to find how much improved detection is doing for travelers without real identification before deciding how to advance.

“It could be possible to reach the point where, if it does not, it is possible that it cannot happen,” he said.

The TSA said in a press release on Wednesday that it plans to make an additional detection for travelers without real identification “until a security vulnerability is no longer considered.”

It was not clear how many real travelers faced an additional projection on Wednesday and what exactly this evaluation implied. At the United States airports, including Laguardia and Oakland International in California, travelers reported having passed with standard ID without finding an additional identity verification.

Pierre Stewart brought his standard driver’s license and an expired passport to board his Oakland flight to Los Angeles for a Beyoncé concert. He was taken aside for an additional projection, he said, but “it was a breeze.” He was questioned.

The agent simply gave him a notice about real identification. “I showed my identification, and I was far from him in 15 seconds,” he said.

Some travelers get used to a great period to meet. Brian Zaben, flying from Laguardia back to Chicago on Wednesday, said that when he realized in a panic that made a real identification, hey wife for Fedex his passport to New York. He arrived approximately two hours before his 4:20 pm flight.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark, Laguardia and Kennedy, among other regional airports, said the staffing had increased and worked to increase public awareness of the deadline.

This impulse in the staff was clear in Laguardia, where police officers of the National Security Department were close to the security entrance. They repeatedly asked travelers to prepare their ID, while guiding them to the control point and different lines.

Claire Brady, 27, or Dallas, who had brought their passport to Laguardia, said the increase in government’s presence was strange. He pointed out the chilling effect that could in the middle of the current climate of greater deportations and the travelers arrested to interrogate at the airports.

Other travelers expressed reservations about real identification and confusion about their purpose

Billy Fraser, a 42 -year -old audio engineer who was leaving Chicago Midway, said he planned to resist real identification for as long as possible.

“Whatever the true identification, sounds disastrous and something that I don’t like,” said Mr. Fraser, who brought his passport.

Santy Moreno, 19, or Queens, who celebrates passports and Colombians, said he brought both to Laguardia. He said he knew many people who were terrified to achieve and show US identifications. UU. Real identifications are available only for US citizens and people who are legal present in the United States.

“We just have to live with that, live with what the president or the country gives us,” he said.

The demand for real identifications has increased as the deadline advanced, which leads to long lines and frustration. On Tuesday, one day before the deadline of compliance, Juanita Yost, 53, was waiting at the Real Id Supercenter in downtown Chicago to run with two or her adult children.

Mrs. Yost, a nurse, said she would go on vacation in a few weeks, and her daughter, a university student, planned to fly to Minnesota Sonoon.

It was his third attempt to obtain real identifications. They had previously been rejected for not having the required documents. “Yesterday frozen, and we arrived here at 9 in the morning and we did not reach almost 1 in the afternoon,” said Yost. “They didn’t communicate well.”

Finally, after approximately four hours, they had completed the application process, just before the center was closed for the day. The only capture? Your new cards must take about two weeks to arrive by mail.

Christine Chung and Nate Schweber Reported from Laguardia airport, Michael Levendon of Newark Liberty International Airport, Robert Chiarito From the Chicago Midway International Airport and the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and Coral Murphy Marcos From Oakland International Airport.