https://www.dmv.org/articles/the-real-id-act-are-you-ready-for-a-national-id/

After 9/11, the federal government began to look at ways to increase security surrounding state identification cards and driver’s licenses, in an attempt to prevent further terrorism and/or unlawful entry into and out of the country.

In 2005, the House of Representatives passed a bill into law called the REAL ID Act. This Act would set certain federal standards

upon all driver’s licenses, which are currently regulated by each individual state. After being passed into law, the bill was tabled until

2007, when it was announced that the federal enforcement of the act would be postponed for a period of two years. However, many state governments were

slow to support this act, feeling that it not only infringed upon states’ rights handed to them by the 10th Amendment, but also created unnecessary cost to

taxpayers in order to implement the change. It wasn’t until this year that the federal government announced that

all states would need to be in compliance with the REAL ID Act by the end of 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_ID_Act#Asylum_and_deportation_controversy

Constitutionality

Some critics claim that the Real ID Act violates the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution as a federal legislation in an area that,

under the terms of the Tenth Amendment, is the province of the states. Thus, Anthony Romero,

the executive director of ACLU, stated: "Real ID is an unfunded mandate that violates the Constitution's 10th Amendment on state powers,

destroys states' dual sovereignty and consolidates every American's private information, leaving all of us far more vulnerable to identity thieves"

Asylum and deportation controversy

Many immigrant and civil rights advocates feel that the changes related to evidentiary standards and the immigration officers' discretion in asylum cases, contained in the Real ID Act, would prevent many legitimate asylum seekers from obtaining asylum.[109][110] Thus a 2005 article in LCCR-sponsored Civil Rights Monitor stated, "The bill also contained changes to asylum standards, which according to LCCR, would prevent many legitimate asylum seekers

from obtaining safe haven in the United States. These changes gave immigration officials broad discretion to demand certain

evidence to support an asylum claim, with little regard to whether the evidence can realistically be obtained; as well as the discretion to deny claims based on such subjective factors as "demeanor". Critics said the reason for putting such asylum restrictions into what was being sold as an anti terrorism bill was unclear, given that suspected terrorists are already barred from obtaining asylum or any other immigration benefit".[109]

Similarly, some immigration and human rights advocacy groups maintain that the Real ID Act provides an overly broad

definition of "terrorist activity" that will prevent some deserving categories of applicants from gaining asylum or refugee status

in the United States.[111] A November 2007 report by Human Rights Watch raises this criticism specifically in relation to former child soldiers who

have been forcibly and illegally recruited to participate in an armed group.[112]