DHS Just Admitted REAL ID Doesn’t Actually Prove US Citizenship

Agency Dismisses Its Own Program

The Department of Homeland Security just told a federal court that REAL ID cannot reliably confirm U.S. citizenship.

The problem is, DHS is the agency that certifies the REAL ID program and requires applicants to prove citizenship or lawful status before getting one.

The admission came in a lawsuit filed by an Alabama construction worker who was detained twice during immigration raids, even after showing his state-issued REAL ID.

Agents told him it was fake. It wasn’t, and what happened to him reveals a strange contradiction at the center of American immigration enforcement.

Leo Venegas Got Detained Twice

Leo Garcia Venegas is a U.S. citizen born in Florida in 1999 to Mexican parents. He moved to Alabama as a teenager, graduated high school in Robertsdale, and started working construction.

On May 21, 2025, he was laying concrete at a housing site in Baldwin County when masked federal agents jumped a fence and ran toward the workers.

On June 12, it happened again at a different site. Both times, Venegas showed his Alabama REAL ID. Both times, agents detained him anyway.

Agents Went Straight for Latino Workers

According to the lawsuit Venegas filed, agents at the first raid ran past white and Black workers without stopping them.

They went directly for the Latino crew.

When Venegas started recording the scene, an officer told him he was making things complicated. Another yelled at him to get on the ground.

Venegas kept saying he was a citizen.

An agent forced his arm behind his back and tackled him. He was held for over an hour in the summer heat before being released.

His Valid ID Was Called Fake

Venegas carried an Alabama STAR ID, which is the state’s version of a REAL ID. Alabama only issues STAR IDs to citizens and lawful residents.

Agents looked at it and said it was fake. At the second detention three weeks later, a different set of agents made the same claim.

Five officers across both incidents refused to accept his government-issued identification. Venegas was never charged with a crime either time because he had done nothing wrong.

The Institute for Justice Filed Suit

In September 2025, Venegas partnered with the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm, to file a federal class-action lawsuit against DHS.

The suit argues that agents violated his Fourth Amendment rights by entering private property without a warrant and detaining workers without reasonable suspicion.

It also challenges DHS policy that allows officers to assume construction workers are undocumented based on how they look and to ignore valid identification.

DHS Said REAL ID Is Unreliable

In a December 11, 2025 court filing, Philip Lavoie, the acting assistant special agent in charge of DHS’s Mobile office, stated that REAL ID can be unreliable to confirm citizenship.

His reasoning: each state has its own compliance laws, and some may issue REAL IDs to non-citizens. The Institute for Justice called the position incredible.

REAL IDs require proof of citizenship or lawful status, and DHS is the very agency responsible for certifying that state programs meet that requirement.

What You Need to Get a REAL ID

To obtain a REAL ID, you must provide your full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, two documents proving your address, and proof of citizenship or lawful immigration status.

Acceptable documents include a U.S. birth certificate, passport, permanent resident card, or valid visa with immigration paperwork.

States must verify these documents with the issuing agencies. Non-citizens with temporary status receive IDs that expire when their authorization ends.

The Law Came From 9/11 Recommendations

The 9/11 Commission’s 2004 report recommended that the federal government set standards for identification documents like driver’s licenses.

Commissioners noted that all but one of the hijackers had obtained some form of U.S. ID, some through fraud. Congress passed the REAL ID Act in May 2005, and President George W.Bush signed it into law.

The original enforcement deadline was 2008. It would take nearly two decades and multiple delays before that deadline actually arrived.

States Fought the Law for Years

Many states refused to comply with REAL ID after it passed. Some passed laws explicitly rejecting it, citing cost and privacy concerns.

The federal government estimated implementation would cost states $11 billion. DHS kept extending deadlines as states pushed back.

It was not until 2020 that all 50 states were certified as compliant.

Full enforcement finally began on May 7, 2025, twenty years after the law was signed, with a phased approach extending through May 2027.

Non-Citizens Can Get REAL IDs Too

The DHS filing has a kernel of truth buried inside it.

Permanent residents, visa holders, asylum applicants, and people with Temporary Protected Status can all qualify for REAL IDs if they prove lawful immigration status.

Their IDs often say “limited term” and expire when their authorization does. But the ID still requires proof of legal presence.

The idea that someone could have a REAL ID and not be legally in the country contradicts the entire purpose of the program.

A 20-Year Project That Proves Nothing

DHS spent two decades pushing states to adopt uniform ID standards. It certified every state as compliant.

It required applicants to prove who they are and whether they can legally be here.

Then, when a U.S. citizen showed that exact ID during an immigration raid, DHS told a court the document could not be trusted.

The agency built the system, approved the system, and now refuses to accept what the system produces. Venegas just wants to work in peace.

The Constitution says he should be able to.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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