Keeping IDentities Safe President, Brian Zimmer, was quoted in a Breitbart News article on visa overstays, terrorism and why it matters to driver's licenses. 

"That visa exit controls were not put in place when the visa entry controls [were deployed] was a failure of both the [George W.] Bush and the President Barack Obama] administrations... Secretary Johnson at DHS has moved the Real ID Act enforcement forward in states and within the government in a forthright manner, a welcome change from the indifference and lassitude of his predecessor. Real ID compliance today has largely been a matter of voluntary compliance by states who understood the importance of secure IDs for public safety and national security."

The Editorial Board of the Oklahoman wrote a strong piece urging state lawmakers to comply with the REAL ID Act so that their constituents wouldn't need passports to enter military bases starting in October, "the first of many inconveniences should legislators continue to ignore federal law". The editorial cites Keeping IDentities Safe's Andrew Meehan on other reasons Oklahoma needs to get on board and join most states in adopting the best practices set back in 2008.

By Andrew Meehan

"As early as 1977, Whitey was already setting up fake identities for himself, taking the names of male infants who had died shortly after their births in 1929 and getting driver licenses in their names." Howie Carr, author of Hitman: The Untold Story of Johnny Martorano

Yes, but hopefully not for long. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed legislation this past July implementing the REAL ID standards. The law, coupled with planned upgrades to the Massachusetts Automated Licensing and Registration System (ALARS), should mitigate some of the fraud that has plagued the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV). Criminals, like Bulger, will find it much more difficult to hide their identities using fraudulently obtained Massachusetts driver's licenses.

The Massachusetts RMV is no stranger to fraud. Over the past several years, the RMV has been plagued by fraud ranging from employees selling licenses to illegal immigrants to systemic impostor fraud involving heroin smuggling, changes in management, and procurement challenges. All of which have limited the RMV from updating a 28 year old COBOL system to compensate for increased demand and savings. A July 2015 audit found that the RMV isn't equipped to convert out-of-state licenses and is "consequently at an increased vulnerability for identity fraud."

The REAL ID standards, such as background checks on employees and verifying identity documents with the issuing agency, will it more difficult for criminals like Bulger to fraudulently obtain Massachusetts driver's licenses. Prior to Baker's Administration, little progress had been made on implementing the REAL ID standards in Massachusetts. Keeping IDentities Safe worked with members of the state legislature to highlight some of the vulnerabilities at the RMV in 2013. Tarr's letter was largely ignored by then-Governor Deval Patick's office. When Massachusetts did request an extension from DHS to meet the REAL ID requirements, DHS refused to grant the extension because the state had not demonstrated any real progress on meeting the standards. 

 
Pressure began to mount. The Boston Globe featured a story in August that noted how a woman was unable to use her Massachusetts driver's license to enter a federal building in Washington, DC. Keeping IDentities Safe, then named, the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, was quoted:

"Identity verification standards are 'extremely common sense,' said Andrew Meehan, policy director of Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, a Washington-based nonprofit. 'For states to not be doing them really puts residents [and] driver's license and ID card holders at risk."

The Boston Globe followed with an editorial:

In its final attempt to request an extension from DHS, the RMV provided a schedule and timeline for how it would have to meet the REAL ID standards:

Additionally, the RMV committed to putting forth legislation that would close some of the vulnerabilities at the RMV and provide a pathway to REAL ID compliance. But, Governor Deval Patrick was leaving office and a new Governor, Charlie Baker, had won the election in 2014. Shortly thereafter, Governor Baker quickly made statements that he would be looking at the RMV's level of compliance with the REAL ID Act and working with DHS on meeting the REAL ID standards.

At the end of 2015, Governor Baker introduced legislation to bring the state into compliance with the REAL ID Act. The legislation authorized improvements to the licensing application and issuance process, including limiting the term of the license to an applicant's authorized period of stay. The Joint Transportation Committee did not consider the bill by the required deadline of May 2. As a result, the legislation was attached to a transportation spending bill which Governor Baker recently signed into law in July.

What does this mean for Massachusetts?

For the time being, Massachusetts is on the right track as far as providing the necessary reforms. The state will not be subject to REAL ID enforcement for at least the next year, meaning Massachusetts driver's license holders can still use their licenses to board airplanes and enter federal buildings. However, the state needs to update ALARS and enact the REAL ID driver's license standards which will require capable leadership and planning.

A customer service representative at the Texas Department of Public Safety in Hondo, TX was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison this week for his role in doling out fraudulent driver's licenses for a fee. Jose A. Ytuarte pleaded guilty to use of interstate communication facility in aid of unlawful activity, one of six counts he was charged with, by inputting fraudulent information into DPS computer systems in exchange for a $700 fee per transaction. 

The alleged broker for these deals, Azeez Mistry, charged customers between $1,000 and $5,000 per fraudulent license. He would then meet with Ytuarte during the office lunch hour, when few employees were present, to exchange cash. Mistry faces sentencing on December 7. 

When customers apply for a Texas driver's license at a DPS location, they have to provide proof of citizenship. This is an important identity verification measure to protect against impostors and to keep driver's licenses, an essential travel document, out of the hands of terrorists. However, Ytuarte was falsifying that these applicants were U.S. citizens in the DPS system without running the proper verifications in order to issue them valid driver's licenses. 

The scheme only unraveled when someone tipped off the Federal Bureau of Investigations, prompting a joint investigation between the FBI, the Texas Rangers, and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. However, fraud investigators in Texas have had a successful history of finding and prosecuting similar criminal schemes. In November 2015, another DPS employee confessed to selling $215,000 worth of Texas driver's licenses. Linda Perez, now serving a two year prison sentence, exchanged money for her documents in a similar fashion as customers delivered cash tucked inside of paper lunch bags stuffed with food. Investigators estimate that Perez doled out 144 licenses, conservatively. 

Officials haven't been able to track down all the recipients of the fraudulent documents. This is a serious problem because a valid driver's license is far more dangerous than a counterfeit one. Valid driver's licenses will pass any visual inspection and will check out with any verification system. A fraudulent but valid identification document can only be uncovered through investigation. This means that any of the holders of these licenses can use the documents to open bank accounts, access secure locations, rent vehicles and hotel rooms, obtain credit cards, and board airplanes, just as the 9/11 attackers and ISIS terrorists have done, as well as countless common crooks and thieves. 

Fraudulent driver's licenses are a key tool for terrorists and are sought after and used by Hezbollah, al-Qaeda, ISIS, and more. Mistry's attorney says that this case has no links to terrorists, but there is no way of knowing that until all the impostors using the fraudulent documents are tracked down. Worse, while Texas is on the forefront of fraud investigation, too many other states, namely Pennsylvania, have very weak processes and are much more vulnerable to insider fraud. How many impostors might be out there with valid Pennsylvania driver's licenses? If you're at DMV around lunch time and you're in a state with weak processes, keep your eyes peeled!