Claim: By 2008, drivers will have to submit to formal identification checks and have chips bearing federal ID numbers implanted in their hands.
Example:[Collected via e-mail, April 2007]
I need to share with you what happened to me last month. As most of you know, I moved down to California from Alaska just over 2 years ago. I didn't want to get a California's drivers license until my Alaska license expired - which it did last month.
This is the experience I had: I went online and downloaded the DMV form an my Alaska Drivers license had my photo on it and thought that maybe that would help her out. She waved my AK DL in front of me and stated "California doesn't recognize this as a Federal ID"!!! I was floored. She told me to return with my birth certificate. I left...angry of course. I went home and ordered my birth certificate from Nevada,. costing me $41.00.
Three days later I went back into the DMV (my AKDL was expired at this point). I took the test, passed and was going through the process of obtaining my California license... the clerk then asked me what last name I would be using on my drivers license!!! Incredulously I asked her what on earth is she talking about. She then informed me that the last name on my birth certificate was different than what was on my Alaska drivers license and she didn't know which name to use! I stared at her with my mouth open in astonishment! I then managed to explain to her that the last name I had been born with was called my "maiden" name, which of course changed when I had married... thus explaining the different last name showing on my Alaska Drivers License. She asked me if I had changed my name back to my maiden name when I divorced and I informed her I hadn't. She then told me that in order to give me the California Drivers License I had to bring in a certified copy of my marriage certificate to prove my name had indeed been changed from my maiden to married last name! We're talking about something that happened over 25 years ago!
NOW I'm being asked to prove my name had changed! At this point I flipped out and in a very threatening voice told the clerk that I'd come into the DMV three freakin times to get a blasted drivers license and I wasn't leaving without one. I informed her that I was divorced and didn't even have a marriage certificate (having gleefully destroyed it along time ago along with my wedding pictures).. I had provided her with more than the required two pieces of identity. I was furious! The clerk's supervisor was sitting next to her and told the clerk to go ahead and give me the drivers license.
At that point they required me to submit my thumbprint to them. I complained about the lack of freedom in this state and asked them why they just didn't tell everyone that in order to get a drivers license in their state we would need to bring in a suitcase full of ID,s as well as blood and urine samples to go with our thumbprints!! The supervisor then informed me that as of May 2008 that won't be necessary as every state will require (as per Federal Law) every driver to go to the DMV and obtain a FEDERAL ID number which will be implanted in the hand of the individual!!!! They ACTUALLY told me this at the DMV! Apparently, several years ago the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT tried to get a law passed requiring everyone to receive a FEDERAL ID NUMBER. It was turned down by the citizens of the United States.
Well, the FEDERAL GOVERNMENT being the lying, cheating criminals that they are - quietly inserted that law into a bill giving federal funds to the Katrina victims. When that bill passed... so did the requirement to receive a FEDERAL ID NUMBER! According to that (now) law, as of MAY 2008, every driver will be required to go to their local DMV office to obtain a federal ID number. They must take in certified copies of their birth certificates, marriage & divorce certificates and social security card. They will also submit to being finger and/or thumbprinted. They will then receive their new FEDERAL ID NUMBER to be inserted under the skin of their hand. At that time they will then be licensed to drive! If you choose not to participate in this FEDERAL ID program... you will not be able to: DRIVE, TRAVEL ON COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT, GO INTO FEDERAL BUILDINGS (that means you can't defend yourself in Federal Courts if you don't have a
FEDERAL ID number) STEP ONTO FEDERAL LANDS (say goodbye to hiking, camping, rafting, etc....), RECEIVE SOCIAL SECURITY, RECEIVE ANY FEDERAL FUNDS & BENEFITS, RECEIVE TAX REFUNDS, WORK FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, RECEIVE WAGES FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, SERVE IN ANY OF THE ARMED FORCES, RECEIVE VA BENEFITS etc...etc...etc...
Does this LAW affect YOU??? Do you like it? IF YOU DO NOT LIKE THIS LAW You MUST fight this. You have one year to get your representatives to reverse this law. You MUST write all your Congressmen, Senators and Representatives and DEMAND that this "LAW" be reversed. None of us can afford to sit and ignore this law.
This law effectively takes away our last remaining rights as citizens of this country. When the Federal Government starts to enforce this law... you will NOT have any rights. NONE! You cannot stand on the Constitution as it will be ONLY for those who have received their ID number!!! Don't believe me??? Call your local DMV and ask them!!!!.... PLEASE PROTECT WHAT LITTLE RIGHTS WE STILL HAVE LEFT..... FIGHT THIS LAW! EVIL PROSPERS WHEN GOOD MEN DO NOTHING
If we choose not to fight this law..... we DESERVE the government we get.
As you can imagine, I left the Auburn, California DMV in shock!!
Our government is not for us...it's against us...
PLEASE FIGHT THIS LAW....IT TRAMPLES ON THE FREEDOMS OUR FOREFATHERS DIED FOR...
Origins: In May 2005, the U.S. Congress passed, and President George W. Bush signed into law, the "Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Defense, the Global War on Terror, and Tsunami Relief Act." Contained within that legislation was the "Real ID Act," provisions requiring every state to issue drivers' licenses that comply with a national
standard.
The "Real ID Act" was a response to the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., attacks that were facilitated by 18 of the 19 hijackers having obtained fraudulent identification (including U.S. drivers' licenses) that helped them board the planes they hijacked and flew into the Pentagon and World Trade Center buildings.
The "Real ID Act" mandates that by 11 May 2008, each U.S. state implement systems ensuring that motorists who apply for licenses are who they say they are and do not pose security risks. After that date, persons looking to obtain or renew drivers' licenses issued by any of the 50 states will have to provide documentation of identity (e.g., birth certificate, passport), documentation of residency address (e.g., utility bills), and documentation showing they are in the United States legally (e.g., birth certificate from a U.S. state or territory, U.S. passport,U.S. permanent residency card).
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will extend the 11 May 2008 deadline to 31 December 2009 for states that both ask for this postponement and provide a compliance plan, so it is reasonable to assume that motorists of at least some states will have until the end of 2009 before they are required to provide extensive information if they're to retain their drivers' licenses.
Numerous states are up in arms about this law, primarily because they maintain that having to vet every holder of a driver's license will be a lengthy and expensive process, one that will hopelessly snarl their motor vehicle and public safety departments. State officials have also expressed concerns about maintaining individuals' rights to privacy.
The federal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says that a Real ID-compliant driver's license will be required in order to
access a federal facility, board federally-regulated commercial aircraft, and enter nuclear power plants.
To many citizens the Real ID Act smacks of a national ID card program, but the DHS maintains that is not so. It says: "The proposed regulations establish common standards for States to issue licenses. The Federal Government is not issuing the licenses, is not collecting information about license holders, and is not requiring States to transmit license holder information to the Federal Government that the Government does not already have (such as a Social Security Number)."
As for the Internet-circulated account of an unnamed former resident of Alaska who experienced problems obtaining a California driver's license, while the 2008 implementation of the Real ID Act would require such an applicant to provide proof of who she was and where
she lived as part of the recredentialing process, we could find no information about the federal government's having enacted a plan to issue complying motorists with "Federal ID Numbers," let alone anything about those numbers being "inserted under the skin of their hand." Those parts of the missive are imagination or misinformation run amok. The insertion of machine-readable devices into the body parts of compliant citizens is a recurring feature in apocalyptic or "evil corporate/government" rumors, such as claims that Mondex is replacing money with biochips inserted into people's hands, or that the government is inserting RFID chips into the homeless to better keep tabs on them. (A related rumor asserts that the security strip embedded in U.S. currency helps the government keep track of how much money any person is carrying.)
As of April 2007, the DHS lists these requirements for a Real ID-compliant driver's license:
A photo ID or other identity document that includes full legal name and date of birth.
A birth certificate or other documentation of date of birth.
Proof of Social Security number (or ineligibility for one).
Documentation of residency address, such as a utility bill.
Proof of lawful entry/residency status in the U.S.
Note that the above list details the minimum standards required under the Real ID Act; individual states may still choose to implement more stringent requirements (and at least some states already do exceed the Real ID standards by thumbprinting motorists and/or requiring proof of name change). However, the Homeland Security requirements themselves contains no mention of requiring proof of marriages and divorces, requiring motorists to submit to being fingerprinted, or inserting ID numbers into people.
Barbara "look, Ma, no hands!" Mikkelson
Additional information:
DHS Issues Proposal for States to Enhance Driver’s Licenses (Department of Homeland Security)
REAL ID Proposed Guidelines: Questions & Answers (Department of Homeland Security)
Last updated: 9 April 2007
The URL for this page is http://www.snopes.com/politics/traffic/realid.asp
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