RGS - NM May Get Break on Passport Requirement

From my archive of press clippings:

Rio Grande Sun

NM May Get Break on Passport Requirement

Department of Homeland Security will probably push deadline for Real ID act, which requires passports for all New Mexicans traveling by air


By Joe Crawford
SUN Staff Writer


Published: Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:22 PM MST


A recently publicized federal law that would require New Mexicans to present a passport before boarding an airplane will probably be changed or its implementation postponed, the Department of Homeland Security announced last week.

Read the whole article here.

Snippet(s):

"In a statement, the Department announced that if Congress doesn’t come up with a legislative solution, the Department plans to grant extensions to states such as New Mexico that have yet to comply with the Real ID Act. The Act, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, would effectively make New Mexico driver’s licenses insufficient forms of identification to get through airport security, even for domestic flights."

"The Real ID Act was passed in 2005 and it establishes nationwide standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and other identification cards. Because New Mexico and the majority of other states have not come into compliance with the act, their IDs would no longer meet minimum requirements for certain purposes, notably boarding an airplane."

"In New Mexico, post offices are the only locations to apply for passports and many offices do not have the capacity to offer the service, U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman Barbara Wood said. That’s mostly because it takes at least several minutes to process an application, Wood said."

&

"The passports cost $100, plus $15 for the Post Office to take an applicant’s photo, she said. The IDs take approximately four to six weeks to process and they are valid for 10 years, according to the Department of State’s Web site."