TSA To Stop Accepting Drivers Licenses From Some States Beginning In January 2018

The Hill reports:

Airline passengers in five states and a U.S. territory will be unable to present their current driver’s licenses at airport checkpoints after Jan. 22, 2018, under new rules announced on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Homeland Security department, which overseas the TSA, said it would begin enforcing a post-Sept. 11 law that directs federal agencies to only accept state-issued identifications that meet federal security standards that were enacted in 2005.

Most states have either adopted the more secure driver’s licenses, known as REAL IDs, or have plans to do so later this year. But Minnesota, Illinois, Missouri, New Mexico, Washington state and American Samoa have not moved to make their driver’s licenses compliant with the new federal standard, meaning airline passengers from those states will have to present other forms of identification at TSA checkpoints.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Friday that states will have two years to bring their driver’s licenses and identifications up to code before the new mandate takes effect.