TSA Checking ID's a good thing
 

Recently flew with a friend of mine. She has a permanent resident card, but no driver's license (lives in NYC). She often travels in US airports with that card and a "Reentry Permit" (sort of a passport, but white) for backup. She was originally from Latvia (soviet days), and moved here as a child. Usually she has not had a problem showing ID checkers her Permanent resident card, however with some airlines employing private ID checkers, they often have no idea about the proper ID requirements.

At JFK, I flew Jetblue on their Shuttle route to Boston (great alternative to US by the way) with her. At security, the Jetblue employee before TSA had no idea what the card was. It was the new post-9/11 redesigned version with holograms, and other security features. The ID checker looked at it as if she was seeing an Alien.
First, she said this wasn't valid "government issued identification" (other than the fact that it says Department of Homeland Security, Permanent resident card, etc). Then she accused it of being fake (it was recently redesigned). Then she said Latvia wasn't a country. After this, I got upset and asked for her supervisior. The supersivor and the ID checker dissapeared with the card for 5 mins (probably checking the big book of ID's) and said they would let her through with it "this one time." Meanwhile, as I got pulled aside for secondary, I was telling the TSA screener about this and she laughed saying that "the ID checkers make us look like Nobel Laureates" and that "they have even thought out-of-state Driver's licenses were fake because some states print them vertically."

If you ask me, I'd feel safer with the TSA runing the show rather than high-school dropouts.

How does checking ID's, even if we overpay the ID checker using Tax Dollars, improve security?

This is just going to be a more expensive ID checker, a lot of false positives (if terrorism-interdiction is the primary objective), and TSA or LEOs running checks that harass a bunch of people, deny people boarding or pick up a few crooks who are no serious threat to aviation.

A waste, as ID is not security.

I'd rather remove all ID checking, unless the airlines want to do so for revenue protection.

ID checking adds less than zero to security for it diverts supposedly limited resources from identifying credible threats.

The really bizarre thing is that written into the ATSA is the provision that all of TSA will be trained in fraudulant identification detection.

How will the TSA checking IDs improve the situation the OP described, I wonder? I just don't see the benefits the OP seems to see.

My friend commented she never had a problem with TSA employees, as they apparently know what a green card looks like, however she has seen several confused faces by private ID checkers in other parts of the country.

Nothing like this story though.

There are some very dim bulbs out there checking IDs. Not to mention that I've encountered several who could barely speak enough English to communicate with me.

I'm a firm supporter of legal immigration, but if you expect to work in a job that requires customer interaction you really need to learn the language first.

Would you or your friend rather not deal with this "security as ID" thing or would you rather maintain and/or ramp it up?

The TSA personnel who have looked at some of my IDs had no clue they were government-issued ID either and challenged me on it in a few places. That more TSA personnel in the future may accept those IDs does not justify this "ID as security" nonsense.

I agree what that assessment. I do not think it does much good, especially as there are corrupt people in the DMV departments across the country who n the past have been happy to make a quick $750 and give you a REAL ID (which is fake).

One way to handle this could be (and I say could) would be as follows:
Passenger enters Driver's Lic #, Green Card #, Passport # into reservation
Self check-in kiosks get a feature to swipe the person's ID to verify with actual state computers that the ID and person are real.

This creates a problem with foreign nationals, however who would still need the ID to be verified.

Personally, I would be happpier with one card for all states, permanent residents, etc which LEO's would not need an encyclopedia to ensure the authenticity of. This card could be used for checking the passenger in at a self check-in kiosk and verified against a real federal database. Hell, if the data were in a pax's FF profile, you wouldn't even need a FF card. Show up at a Crown Room Club, have them swipe your ID, and away you go.

I would be happy with one card for all citizens, permanent residents, etc as in post above.

And advocacy of more "Big Brother"? Seems so, but as I suspected. :o

I can recall visiting a CIA facility whose gatehouse guards could barely read English. I was rather shocked, to say the least.

I would be happy with no ID. Period.

It is none of the government's business who is traveling.

The airlines can satisfy revenue protection with a simple ID verification as most ticket scalpers are not also forgers. Sale patterns will also aid in revenue protection, if desired.

No, it would create more problems with US nationals since they aren't forced to carry any of those documents (some may not even have them), Forgeign nationals must carry green card or passport while in the US.