The quest to get REAL IDs before this week’s deadline leads to frustration for many

By Danny Freeman, CNN

Camden, New Jersey (CNN) — When Scott Case realized the REAL ID deadline was coming up this week, he decided to head to his local department of motor vehicles Monday morning.

“I’ve known about it and I’ve been putting it off, so some of it’s on me,” the frequent business traveler from Collingswood, New Jersey, acknowledged to CNN.

But during the frenzied final weeks before the federal government starts enforcing REAL ID regulations Wednesday, Case and others have learned getting one at the last minute is a big challenge.

“I feel bad for anybody who doesn’t have a passport,” said Case as he left without securing an ID.

Congress passed the REAL ID Act in 2005 as a way to enhance security for identification, requiring new minimum standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and IDs. While people without REAL IDs will still be able to drive using current non-compliant licenses and use that identification in other scenarios, the law says people who want to fly domestically must have a REAL ID, valid passport or other approved identification.

After years of pushing the deadline for Americans to get a REAL ID, the Department of Homeland Security says it will finally start enforcement May 7.

Flying without a REAL ID

Wednesday is not the deadline for obtaining a REAL ID – it’s just the date the new requirement for air travel goes into effect. People can still get a REAL ID after that date.

And officials said Tuesday that if passengers show up Wednesday without a REAL ID, they will still be able to fly but “may” face additional screening.

“We will process you (and you) will not be turned away,” Steve Lorincz, the Transportation Security Administration’s deputy executive assistant administrator for security operations, told CNN. “It might take some additional time, but we’re going to do it efficiently. We are fully staffed at all locations across the country, so I don’t anticipate any wait times or delays as far as you’re going through the security process.”

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem also said Tuesday those without a REAL ID will still be allowed to fly; they may just be “diverted to a different line, have an extra step.”

Noem did not say what the extra step would entail or how long passengers without a REAL ID will still be allowed to fly. CNN has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for clarity on her statement.

As for whether there will come a time that people without acceptable forms of ID will be turned away, the TSA hasn’t said.

“The bottom line is, if (you) don’t have an acceptable form of ID such as passport or a REAL ID, give plenty of time when you arrive to ensure you can get through everything and can get through from curb to the gate in plenty of time,” a TSA spokesperson said Tuesday.

Trying to beat the deadline

From Illinois and Washington to Florida and Alabama, Americans across the country are encountering long lines as they scramble to get their REAL IDs before Wednesday.

“It’s not gonna happen,” said driver Toe Cooper, from Burlington Township, New Jersey.

At the Motor Vehicle Commission – New Jersey’s department of motor vehicles – in Camden, customers packed the small building trying to get a REAL ID.

Cooper tried to walk in to get his Monday because he couldn’t get an appointment online.

“I’ve been on there every night looking. There’s nothing on there,” explained Cooper.

“You can get an appointment for anything else, but for REAL ID it said nothing is available,” he added.

In a statement, the state’s Motor Vehicle Commission said it has been “working non-stop to help as many eligible New Jerseyans as possible” obtain a REAL ID.

“Demand is very high right now,” acknowledged commission spokesperson William Connolly.

“And our challenges are not unique to New Jersey – every state in the nation is facing similar pressures as enforcement approaches,” Connolly noted.

The commission said the state is issuing roughly 25,000 REAL IDs per week with “thousands of new appointments for REAL IDs opening up on our scheduler each morning on a rolling basis.”

New Jersey also has “dedicated REAL ID days” offering thousands of additional appointments and an expanded mobile unit program for driver services, including the new IDs, he said.

Cooper couldn’t get a REAL ID without an appointment, but even for those with appointments, frustration was not always avoidable.

Bruce Beegal, from Brigantine, New Jersey, came to the office with his daughter to get her REAL ID on Monday. But at their appointment they were told they were missing one extra form of identification, and they couldn’t complete the process.

“This is a joke,” said Beegal. “What’s going on here, it’s terrible.”

Beegal’s daughter has a passport, so he’s not worried about her boarding a plane, but he said he couldn’t believe he might have to do this process again after the REAL ID enforcement deadline passes.

“It sucks,” he said.

CNN’s Cindy Von Quednow contributed to this report.

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