DOD Slams Door on NM Licenses

Facilities across US will enforce Real ID access

New Mexico's driver's license problem just went national, at least among those New Mexicans who work at or would like to visit Department of Defense facilities.

The DOD announced today that the state’s driver’s licenses will no longer be accepted at its federal installations across the country, a facet of the Real ID Act that had not been addressed ever since the US Department of Homeland Security granted the Land of Enchantment a two-year extension in late December, allowing New Mexico IDs for use to board airplanes flying within the US.But it was unclear where federal facilities stood on the matter until now; the act was enacted by Congress in 2005 and was designed to curb terrorism in the wake of 9/11.Both Sandia National Laboratories and White Sands Missile Range in the southern part of the state a week ago started rejecting the licenses, turning back civilians at their gates, but Los Alamos National Laboratory, a federal facility that falls under the Department of Energy, so far is safe.The Real ID Act has minimal impact thus far, because most of the employees have already cleared federal background checks with proof of US citizenship and have badges that grant entry, according to the lab’s public affairs department.The restrictions come as legislators at the Roundhouse in Santa Fe are set to debate a series of bills that would either allow New Mexicans to avoid such chaos by coming into compliance with the Real ID Act right away or give all residents, both undocumented and US citizens, the choice to decide, in a two-tier system in which they could choose between a Real ID-compliant driver’s license or a non-compliant license that would allow carriers to drive but not board airplanes or enter federal facilities.In her State of the State Address on Tuesday, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez told legislators that she opposed any bill that would give undocumented residents a license to drive, contending that the distribution of such IDs only lures crime to New Mexico and that it’s a magnet for human trafficking, something pro-immigrant rights groups in Santa Fe say is absurd.So far, there are 22 states that have complied with the federal law, in which license holders need to provide proof of US citizenship, either through a birth certificate or a Social Security card, along with a place of residency. New Mexico is one of five states that have been singled out by the federal government for having serious problems with compliance; the others are Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri and Washington state.The remainder of the states have been granted extensions to comply with the Real ID Act, and on Jan. 9, the US Department of Homeland Security outlined the time frame in which all the states in the nation will have to meet federal standards, which are designed to curb terrorism. The final deadline is October 2020.

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