More Real ID drama: All the reasons why it’s a bad idea

Starting next year, you may have to pay a hefty fine to get through airport security if your ID isn't up to date.

Beginning Feb. 1, 2026, airline passengers who arrive at airport security without a Real ID or another acceptable form of identification will have to pay a $45 fee if they still want to fly.

I’m just going to say it. The Real ID is stupid, and this $45 fee is just one of the many reasons.

Why the Real ID rollout feels like government overreach in New Jersey

Every time New Jersey rolls out another “update” or “requirement” for it, the whole thing feels less like basic identification and more like the government sticking its nose where it doesn’t belong.

And let’s be honest, give it a few years and that $45 fee will probably apply no matter what, because when has the government ever stopped at “optional.”

People keep asking if a national ID is unconstitutional; it could be. The Real ID Act has always made a lot of us uneasy, and for good reason.

The Tenth Amendment says anything not spelled out for the federal government belongs to the states or the people. That normally includes something like issuing driver’s licenses, but the Real ID Act basically tells states how those licenses must be designed, what documents they must require, and how the data must be stored.

A lot of critics say that’s a pretty big overstep. That’s not cooperation but the federal government saying “do it our way.”

Real ID and the right to travel: a workaround that feels like a penalty

Then there’s the right to travel.

Technically, the government can’t stop you from flying within the United States, so instead, they do an end run around it by making it nearly impossible to board a plane unless you’ve surrendered more personal information for a “compliant” ID.

Legal scholars call this an unconstitutional condition. Normal people call it annoying.

Not only that, but it really doesn’t protect us all that much. Real ID only proves you are you. It’s basically a stricter driver’s license.

Does Real ID even improve security? Evidence suggests it doesn’t

Real ID does not check whether you’re on a terror watchlist, if you’re under investigation, have made online threats, or have traveled to suspicious locations. TSA doesn’t get any of that from the ID.

Also, terrorists already inside the U.S. usually have legit documents. People involved in plots here are many times U.S. citizens or permanent residents with valid driver’s licenses and can pass background checks

The 9/11 hijackers all had valid passports and U.S. state IDs, for example.

So, when people roll their eyes and say, “Relax, it’s just an ID,” maybe they’re missing the bigger picture. The Real ID isn’t about making travel safer, it’s about normalizing the idea that the government gets to track you more closely and penalize you for refusing to play along.

The Real ID is a national identity document, which is unconstitutional.

Now, with looming fees for not carrying it, New Jersey is inching toward the kind of system civil liberties groups warned us about years ago.

Whether they call it Real ID, TRU-ID, or whatever acronym they invent next, it’s the same story. More government, less privacy, and a whole lot of “just trust us.”

No thanks.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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