Immediately repeal the federal Real ID Act. Its core danger lies not just in bureaucratic failure, but in its fundamental threat to personal liberty and privacy. Real ID creates the infrastructure for a national tracking system, linking state databases and enabling unprecedented government surveillance of citizens’ movements—precisely the kind of invasive system that evokes deep-seated fears among many Americans, including concerns resembling a “mark of the beast” scenario where government monitors and controls individuals through mandatory identification. This potential for pervasive tracking violates the spirit of the 4th Amendment and must be dismantled.
Replace Real ID with StatePass, a new system of state-controlled secure IDs for domestic travel originating within their borders. Leveraging lessons from Real ID’s troubled history, states will implement StatePass quickly and efficiently. The absolute priority of StatePass is preventing federal surveillance; standards must prohibit centralized databases or features allowing easy federal tracking, focusing instead on secure credentials verifiable locally, not federal data collection. This state-centric approach, where states design, issue, and manage their own StatePass IDs and verification, directly counters the “mark of the beast” concerns tied to federal overreach.
State accountability will be ensured through robust mechanisms. The State Security Assurance Fund (SSAF) is a mandatory pool of state contributions, essentially security deposits, used to levy substantial financial penalties against any state whose faulty StatePass system causes a major security breach originating there. The Interstate Travel Security Commission (ITSC), composed of representatives from participating states, manages the SSAF, investigates security failures to determine penalties, and facilitates voluntary collaboration on StatePass best practices.
Under this framework, the federal government’s security focus remains sharply defined: securing the physical borders and managing international arrivals. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) must secure the border using passports, visas, and intelligence – its proper function. As border security improves, surplus Border Patrol personnel can be strategically reassigned to enhance security at international arrival points within airports, strengthening the federal role where it is appropriate. This creates a clear jurisdictional divide: states manage secure, privacy-protecting StatePass IDs for domestic originating travel, while the federal government handles international arrivals, border security, and standard screening.
The outcome is StatePass, a system that decisively rejects the surveillance potential inherent in Real ID that fuels legitimate “mark of the beast” concerns. It establishes secure domestic travel identification under state authority, prioritizing citizen privacy and liberty, while maintaining a strong federal presence where it belongs—at the international border.
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