SAN ANTONIO – The deadline for Real ID compliance will be pushed back because of the effects of the novel coronavirus, President Donald Trump said Monday.
The Real ID Act, which requires travelers to have a Real ID to board a commercial aircraft, will no longer be enforced this October in an attempt to promote social distancing.
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“At a time when we’re asking Americans to maintain social distancing, we do [not] want to require people to go with their local DMV,” Trump said at a White House briefing, adding that a new deadline will be set “very soon.”
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When Congress passed the Real ID Act in 2005, it enacted the 9/11 Commission’s recommendation that the federal government set security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and IDs.
The ID adds another layer of security for the Transportation Security Administration and prevents the use of fake IDs, TSA spokesperson Carrie Harmon previously told KSAT.
Real IDs will have a star in the upper right-hand corner and they are made of tamper-resistant polycarbonate material.
The Real ID Act was originally set to be enforced starting Oct. 1.
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COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the new virus, stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The disease first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, but spread around the world in early 2020, causing the World Health Organization to declare a pandemic in March.
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