Number: RL32754
Title: Immigration: Analysis of the Major Provisions of the REAL ID Act of 2005
Authors: Michael John Garcia, Margaret Mikyung Lee, and Todd Tatelman,  American Law Division 
Abstract: This report analyzes the major provisions of the REAL ID Act, as enacted, which, inter alia, (1) modifies the eligibility criteria for asylum and withholding of removal; (2) limits judicial review of certain immigration decisions; (3) provides additional waiver authority over laws that might impede the expeditious construction of barriers and roads along land borders, including a 14-mile wide fence near San Diego; (4) expands the scope of terror-related activity making an alien inadmissible or deportable, as well as ineligible for certain forms of relief from removal; (5) requires states to meet certain minimum security standards in order for the drivers' licenses and personal identification cards they issue to be accepted for federal purposes; (6) requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to enter into the appropriate aviation security screening database the appropriate background information of any person convicted of using a false driver's license for the purpose of boarding an airplane; and (7) requires the Department of Homeland Security to study and plan ways to improve U.S. security and improve inter-agency communications and information sharing, as well as establish a ground surveillance pilot program.
Pages: 44
Date: May 25, 2005