Real ID Act of 2005: Is Our Federal Government Overstepping Their Bounds?

Terrorists are winning whether they know it or not. There is widespread fear in this country of terrorism, so much that many government initiatives are being tied to the safety of this country. Along with these laws comes an infringement on our basic rights as Americans and the risk of governmental abuse of power. For example, HR 418 (the Real ID Act of 2005) is being passed in an attempt to decrease the perceived threat to this country from illegal aliens and terrorists. Section 102 "Waiver of laws necessary for improvement of barriers at borders", states that "the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive, and shall waive, all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary's sole discretion, determines necessary to ensure expeditious construction of the barriers and roads under this section." What laws exist that stand in the way of the construction necessary under this legislation? They may be as simple as zoning laws or speed limits, but nonetheless those laws were put in place for a reason and it seems imprudent to dismiss them so easily.

The Real ID Act also includes a section requiring all states to comply with Federal regulations to standardize all drivers' licenses. Under this law, the identification cards must incorporate "A common machine-readable technology, with defined minimum data elements" and requires states to link all of their databases. Are these measures necessary or even further are they reasonable? It has been stated that they will be effective against terrorists and criminals who want to duplicate IDs to avoid detection. It is also being used to track every citizen, criminal or not.