Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin REALITY CHECK: A Homeland Security sign in Miami International Airport tells travelers to "be ready by May 7, 2025" with a REAL ID. But enforcement may not happen until 2027. N ineteen years after Congress enacted the REAL ID Act of 2005, America is still not ready to enforce the law.
As of January 2024, only 56% of all state-issued IDs were REAL ID-compliant . More important, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expects to only reach 70% compliance by May 7, 2025, the deadline by which air travelers would need a REAL ID-compliant identification to board a flight in the United States. Consequently, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) proposed a rule last week that would hold off full enforcement of the REAL ID deadline until May 5, 2027—giving states and the agency another two years to get their ducks in a row.
The TSA’s proposed rule would give the agency “appropriate flexibility” by “explicitly permitting agencies to implement card-based enforcement in phases” and would kick back full enforcement until May 5, 2027. This would be the fourth time since the COVID-19 pandemic that the U.S.
has delayed the REAL ID deadline. The last time , in 2022, the deadline was pushed back to May 7, 2025. “TSA is engaging with the public, licensing jurisdictions and states to facilitate a smooth transition to REAL ID enforcement beginning May 7, 2025,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske in a statement la.