The signs inside Terminal B at LaGuardia Airport told the story on Wednesday: “Real ID, Enhanced, Passport” with an arrow pointing to the right, and “All Others” with an arrow pointing to the left.
After years of warnings and postponements, “all others” are no longer enough to make it past airport security checkpoints. Travelers are now required to flash a federally compliant Real ID, a passport or another approved form of identification to board domestic flights.
At LaGuardia, waits were minimal, and throughout the morning and afternoon the entire security process took under five minutes. Many passengers arrived up to three hours early, heeding warnings of delays or complications from the Real ID rollout. A large number of Transportation Security Administration employees, airport staff and police officers flanked the security entrance, advising travelers to prepare their IDs.
Arthur Perlman, 61, a former teacher from Queens who described himself as “slightly worried,” came four hours early for his flight to Texas. He had recently gotten a state ID card and presumed it was a Real ID.
But it had neither a star nor an American flag, meaning it was not compliant. “A week ago, I thought about it and went, ‘Oh my God!’” he said. “I did a reality check.”
He briefly panicked, until he learned that a passport is also valid. He had brought that to LaGuardia.
Real ID enforcement comes after 15 years of delays driven by states’ concerns over privacy and steep costs as well as the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite all the warnings and postponed deadlines, the government has still struggled to persuade people to get Real IDs.
States reported varying rates of Real ID compliance ahead of Wednesday’s deadline. In California, it was more than half of all driver’s licenses or ID cards. In Pennsylvania, it was 28 percent.
Travelers also received mixed messages about what to expect at airport security checkpoints when the deadline arrived. While the T.S.A. repeatedly stated that full enforcement would begin on Wednesday, Kristi Noem, the secretary of homeland security, said on Tuesday that travelers who didn’t have a Real ID-compliant document would still be allowed to fly, after additional screening.
Anthony Harris, a 19-year-old student at Hampton University in Virginia, had flown into Chicago Midway International Airport early Wednesday morning without a Real ID.
Mr. Harris, who had pulled an all-nighter to make his 5:45 a.m. flight, said he was not aware of the Real ID deadline when he arrived at the airport at 4 a.m.
“It was out of sight and out of mind. It had been a while since I’ve gone to the airport, so when I got there, I saw the signs and was like, ‘Oh, it is May 7,’” he said.
He was allowed through security after going through extra screening, but a T.S.A. agent gave him a notice warning, “The ID you presented is NOT Real ID-compliant.”
Inside busy Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport, where equipment failures and air traffic control staffing issues caused more than a week of heavy delays, security lines were moving fairly quickly, with average wait times dropping through the morning and early afternoon, to less than two minutes from 16 minutes early in the day. Neither Terminal A nor Terminal C appeared to have separate lines for travelers whose documents were not compliant with Real ID.
Several travelers said they were more concerned over the news that the air traffic controllers who coordinate planes at Newark had briefly lost contact with planes last week, prompting some of the controllers to take trauma leave from work.
“It’s not so much the delays; it was the safety,” said Marty Springer, a New Jersey resident who was flying to San Francisco using his passport. He had not yet been able to obtain a Real ID. New Jersey has one of the lowest Real ID rates in the country, with just around 17 percent of IDs reportedly compliant as of last week.
Thomas Carter, the T.S.A.’s federal security director for New Jersey, told reporters on Wednesday at Newark Airport that the rollout of Real ID enforcement was going “smoothly,” despite New Jersey’s low rate of compliance.
He said there was no firm timeline for when the T.S.A. would strictly enforce the Real ID law, adding that the rollout was in “Phase 1.” He said the agency would analyze data over the next week or so to find out how much enhanced screening it is doing for travelers without a Real ID before deciding how to move forward.
“It could eventually get to the point where, if you don’t, you might not be able to get through,” he said.
The T.S.A. said in a news release on Wednesday that it plans to conduct additional screening for travelers without a Real ID “until it is no longer considered a security vulnerability.”
It was unclear how many travelers without Real IDs faced additional screening on Wednesday and what exactly this screening entailed. At airports across the United States, including LaGuardia and Oakland International in California, travelers reported passing through with standard IDs without encountering additional identity verification.
Pierre Stewart brought his standard driver’s license and an expired passport to board his flight from Oakland to Los Angeles for a Beyoncé concert. He was pulled aside for additional screening, he said, but “it was a breeze.” He wasn’t questioned.
The agent merely handed him a notice about the Real ID. “I showed him my ID, and I was away from him within 15 seconds,” he said.
Some travelers went to great lengths to be in compliance. Brian Zaben, flying from LaGuardia back home to Chicago on Wednesday, said that when he realized in a panic that he didn’t have a Real ID, he asked his wife to FedEx his passport to New York. It arrived just over two hours before his 4:20 p.m. flight.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates Newark, LaGuardia and Kennedy, among other regional airports, said it had increased staffing and worked to increase public awareness of the deadline.
This boost in staffing was clear at LaGuardia, where Department of Homeland Security police officers stood near the security entrance. They repeatedly asked travelers to get their IDs ready, while guiding them to the checkpoint and the different lines.
Claire Brady, 27, of Dallas, who had brought her passport to LaGuardia, said that the increased government presence felt odd. She noted the chilling effect it could have amid the current climate of increased deportations and travelers being detained for questioning at airports.
Other travelers expressed reservations about Real ID and confusion about its purpose
Billy Fraser, a 42-year-old audio engineer flying out of Chicago Midway, said he planned to hold out on getting a Real ID for as long as possible.
“Whatever the Real ID is, it sounds nefarious and something I don’t like,” said Mr. Fraser, who brought his passport.
Santy Moreno, 19, of Queens, who holds U.S. and Colombian passports, said he brought both to LaGuardia. He said he knew many people who were terrified about getting, and showing, various U.S. IDs. Real IDs are available only to U.S. citizens and people who are lawfully present in the United States.
“We just have to live with it, live with whatever the president or country gives us,” he said.
Demand for Real IDs has surged as the deadline loomed, leading to long lines and frustration. On Tuesday, a day before the enforcement deadline, Juanita Yost, 53, was waiting at the Real ID Supercenter in downtown Chicago to apply with two of her grown children.
Ms. Yost, a nurse, said she was going on vacation in a few weeks, and her daughter, a college student, was planning to fly to Minnesota soon.
It was their third attempt to get Real IDs. They had previously been turned away for not having the required documents. “Yesterday was freezing, and we got here at 9 o’clock in the morning and didn’t get in until almost 1 p.m.,” Ms. Yost said. “They did not communicate anything well.”
Finally, after about four hours, they had completed the application process, just before the center closed for the day. The only catch? Their new cards should take about two weeks to arrive in the mail.
Christine Chung and Nate Schweber reported from LaGuardia Airport, Michael Levenson from Newark Liberty International Airport, Robert Chiarito from Chicago Midway International Airport and Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and Coral Murphy Marcos from Oakland International Airport.
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