On May 7, 2025, the federal government began enforcing provisions of the REAL ID act nationwide. A controversial policy first passed by Congress in 2005, the federal government’s May 7 deadline last year requires that anyone accessing places controlled by the federal government—airport security, federal buildings, border crossings—will need a “real ID” such as a passport or an enhanced driver license.
Many people have since lined up to receive their Enhanced Driver License or Enhanced Identification Card. However, these eligible documents are only available to U.S. citizens.
In Washington state, the REAL ID policy has a large impact on members of the Pacific Islander community who come from the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau. Citizens from these countries are part of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA). They are allowed to live and work in the U.S. indefinitely without a visa, but are not U.S. citizens.
This makes COFA citizens ineligible for Washington’s Enhanced Driver License, and members are stuck in the long process of trying to renew their passport or applying for a replacement. In the meantime, they are not able to travel domestically or go back home.
“A lot of them are already facing barriers like language, system, and cultural barriers,” said Dania Otto, executive director of Sakura 39ers, an organization dedicated to serving the Chuukese youth community of Vancouver, Washington. “This REAL ID policy adds another barrier on top of the barriers they are already dealing with.”
In 1986, the U.S. and the Marshall Islands signed COFA into law (followed by the Federated States of Micronesia the following month and Palau in 1994). However, this was only after more than a decade of U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands. Between 1946 and 1958, the U.S. conducted 67 nuclear tests—weapons that desecrated Marshallese lands, forced relocation for citizens, and left long-lasting health impacts on its people.
Today, radiation still plagues the islands, with many Marshallese coming to Washington state seeking medical help or better opportunities for education, according to Martina Naich, director of Pacific Islander Community Association’s (PICA) Wellness Services.
“They destroy our islands and give us permission to come to the U.S. freely, but then we’re not able to get full benefits,” Naich said.
COFA citizens arrive in the U.S with a passport from their country of origin and are given a I-94 form. The form documents their lawful admission and immigration status. The I-94 is essential for legal status, social security, and work authorization.
However, due to many COFA citizens facing language and other systemic barriers, I-94 forms are often lost within process and many face extreme difficulties in renewing expired passports.
“Some of them don’t have the resources to pay to renew a passport,” Otto of Sakura 39ers said, “Or they just don’t know how to navigate the system to get a passport renewed, or how to replace one.”
Some 80% of the community Otto works with is low income, and many community members seek resources for housing, legal aid, food, and employment resources. They need to access Medicaid insurance, SNAP benefits, government benefits—benefits that need proper and valid identification.
“[The REAL ID] trickles down and has an effect on our families, because if they don’t work and have those proper identification documents, they can’t work,” Otto said. “They can’t access healthcare. They can’t access resources or benefits that can help them better themselves.”
Otto speaks about one family she remembers in particular. The mother had lost her passport after years of living in Washington. She had a death in the family back in Micronesia and needed to return.
“She shared with me, ‘I can’t travel, I don’t have a Real ID or a passport, there’s no way for me to go back home and attend my father’s funeral.’” Otto said.
The woman was unable to get her documents in time and was not able to return home for the funeral. The family death took a toll on her. She had to take time off of work and was eventually laid off. This led to piling household bills, mental health struggles—she eventually needed to come back to Otto’s organization to seek further assistance.
“It goes back to that policy, and if it had not been there, the outcome could have been different,” Otto said.
To combat these struggles of obtaining identification documents, the Washington legislature passed an increase of $300,000 in its budget for the COFA community in September of 2025. The grant was through the Department of Licensing. It has since been managed by UTOPIA Washington, which distributes the grant to organizations like PICA to help COFA citizens through complex applications. Organizations like PICA work to support the long passport renewal process, language barrier, and application fees.
“The funding is being used not only for outreach, education, case management navigation, but also to provide financial assistance for folks who qualify for state benefits,” said Adrianna Suluai, UTOPIA Washington’s policy and advocacy director.
This year, Washington recognized that the $300,000 was not enough and has voted to increase the budget for 2026. Currently this budget increase is on its way to the governors’ desk to be signed into law. “However, this is more of a band aid,” Suluai said, “The real issue is more of a systems issue where our Department of Licensing needs to expand who’s eligible for an enhanced driver’s license.”
“I want people to know how the REAL ID policy is impacting our community,” Naich said, “It’s unfair to our community and I want them to know the challenges we’re facing. I hope we can all come together and support one another.”
