Some Americans Will Soon Need Passports to Board Domestic Flights

It wasn’t that long ago that a U.S. citizen could freely travel to countries like Mexico or Canada without providing a passport. But in recent years, crossing these borders has become more challenging (except for illegal immigrants of course) as our jackbooted government continues to insist upon making us safe from terrorists (that they created). As is usually the case with our government, when you give them an inch, they will take a mile.

Depending on where you live, in the near future you may have to provide a passport before boarding any airplane, including domestic flights. This is in accordance with the 2005 Real ID Act, which despite (or because of) widespread criticism, is being slowly rolled out in phases. You may recall that when the Real ID Act was first passed by Congress, just about every state government rejected it for various reasons.

The new passport rules are a response to several states whose driver’s licenses are not compliant with the Real ID Act. If you live in Louisiana, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, or American Samoa, you will soon need a passport to board any flight. Military ID’s, Permanent Resident cards, Global Entry, and Nexus cards will also be allowed. The Implementation of this rule by the DHS sends a clear message to non-compliant states. If you try to assert your sovereignty in any way, your citizens won’t be treated like Americans when traveling within the country.