According to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety website, Real ID will go into effect on October 10, 2018, due to the extension granted by the Department of Homeland Security on October 18, 2017.

Democratic Minnesota Senator Scott Dibble said he attributes the beginning of the Real ID debate in the United States to the terrorist attack September 11th, 2001.

“(The Real ID debate) goes back a few years, when Congress began pushing heightened requirements after 9/11, where all 50 states had to bring ID standards and security standards up to push back against terrorism,” Dibble said.

Senior Ilana Meisler said she was unenthusiastic about Real ID, due to lack of financial support from the federal government.

“I’m not confident in Real ID, due to the financial strain it will put on the State of Minnesota and that the federal government is giving no support,” Meisler said.   

Dibble said his opposition to Real ID is the lack of allocation of funds to the switch, as well the nationalizing of identification, which has long been a state right and duty.

“My objection to Real ID lies within the significant costs to improve technology to accommodate for the new identification process, without any funds allocated to states from the federal government,” Dibble said. “A second objection is that we would be nationalizing IDs.”

Senior Stuart Monicatti is skeptical of Real ID, but feels if the rest of the country is doing it, Minnesota should comply.

“I find it very unnecessary, considering Minnesota has one of the most secure IDs out of most of the states,” Monicatti said, “Although now it is national law, I guess we should just do it, instead of putting it off.”