According to the Transportation Safety Administration, or TSA, it is now requiring a $45 fee for air travelers.
Twila Brase, president/co-founder of Citizens' Council for Health Freedom, calls it a fine rather than a fee. The reason why, she argues, is the extra cost is meant to push people to obtaining REAL ID.
"They are increasing the cost of flying. They're increasing the time it will take to fly,” Brase told AFN. “They might actually be preventing some people from flying who do not want to go through this entire process, and the whole thing is unconstitutional.”
The REAL ID Act, passed by Congress in 2005, following recommendations from the 9/11 Commission. The stated reasons for it include “federal standards” for issuing personal identification, such a driver’s license.
Brase, an outspoken advocate for privacy, has warned for years REAL ID does more harm than good and, in the future, could be required for a regular doctor visit. That concern is why Citizens' Council for Health Freedom has been running campaigns against REAL ID and informing the public how to refuse it.
"This is a $45 fee for 10 travel days,” Brase pointed out. “So if you have a two-week vacation, you're going to have to pay it twice.”
The real goal behind the fee, Brase insisted, is not just collecting money but collecting personal information for an identification verification system.
“This is all about coercion,” she warned, “that is basically setting up a national facial recognition system, the framework for a social credit system, an internal domestic passport for all of life, all these things."
