The case for REAL ID: Why Congress passed this requirement in 2005

The 9/11 hijackers who used fraudulent driver's licenses prompted lawmakers to implement the REAL ID law, a long-delayed enhanced proof of ID that is more difficult to fake.

The law mandating REAL ID passed in 2005, but its implementation has been delayed repeatedly over the years. The Trump administration argued that the deadline had already been postponed long enough, asserting that travelers had ample time to gather the necessary documents for the more rigorously verified form of identification.

Critics, however, contend that if the deadline could be pushed back by nearly 20 years without any flight-based terrorist attacks during that time, the urgency and necessity of the measure are questionable.