The Line: What’s The Real Issue With REAL ID?

January 15, 2016 – New Mexicans will not need a passport to board a plane this month. The state, along with many others, recently received a two year extension in one area of the REAL ID Act from the Department of Homeland Security.

State lawmakers need to approve legislation to bring New Mexico driver’s license policies in line with the federal requirements. At the same time, Governor Susana Martinez continues to push for lawmakers to change the current law in New Mexico that allows anyone to get a driver’s license, regardless of immigration status.

Host Gene Grant and our Line opinion panelists debate REAL ID and the current political discussion in New Mexico about both the driver’s license law and requirements for compliance with the federal REAL ID Act.

LINE PANELISTS:
Tom Garrity, Garrity Group PR
Rob Nikolewski, Independent Journalist
Laura Sanchez-Rivét, attorney at Cuddy & McCarthy, LLP
Harry Van Buren, professor at the UNM Anderson School of Management