Sept. 11, 2001, attacks forced changes at Virginia's DMV

Virginia discovered it had an identity crisis after the terrorist attacks that struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001.

The investigation of the attacks soon showed that seven of the 19 hijackers had obtained identification cards from Department of Motor Vehicles offices in Northern Virginia.

The cards had been issued legally under Virginia law and DMV regulation, and that was the problem.

Ten days after the attacks, on Sept. 21, DMV closed loopholes in the law that allowed people to receive driver's licenses or ID cards if someone vouched for their identity and residency in the state.

"We fixed it fast," said Sharon K. Brown, deputy director of driver services at DMV.

The episode was the catalyst for ongoing changes at DMV to prevent the process of licensing drivers from being turned into a means to acquire false IDs. Since then, the state also has begun requiring proof of legal status to be in the United States before issuing a license or ID, and it has produced a new card designed to stymie counterfeiters and verify the address of the holder.

It hasn't been an easy process for an agency that traditionally prided itself foremost on customer service and convenience.

DMV's culture changed to reflect its role in protecting national security, as well as highway safety, said Karen Grim, assistant commissioner for driver, vehicle and data management services at DMV. "It's a lot bigger than just service."

The responsibility rests heaviest on employees at DMV front counters who have to make decisions about the authenticity of documents to verify identity and residence.

"I think they really realized at that point how important their role was, and is today, to make sure the documents they accept are legitimate documents," Grim said. "I think a lot of them were scared."

The hijackers took advantage of two forms that DMV accepted as proof of identity and residency. The forms, known as an affidavit of identity and certificate of residence, were created in 1994 to help legal immigrants who didn't have Social Security cards and other documents needed to obtain driver's or IDs.

But the loopholes also enabled some of the hijackers to obtain Virginia ID cards and then vouch for other hijackers to receive theirs. Five people were charged with document fraud for helping the hijackers, however unwittingly.

Even before the hijackings, federal authorities had begun to pursue people who exploited the system to profit off the sale of licenses and IDs to people, mainly illegal immigrants, who couldn't get them legally.

After ending use of the identity affidavit and residency certificate, Virginia rewrote its rules for verifying a person's identity and status as a state resident. Inevitably, those rules became part of a growing debate over people's right to be in the United States because some foreign documents weren't easily verifiable.

The next step came in 2003, when the General Assembly passed legislation requiring a person to prove their legal status to receive a driver's license or ID. The law took effect Jan. 1, 2004.

The agency tried to mitigate the effect on legal immigrants by creating an identity review office to help verify the authenticity of documents to confirm their identities.

Two years ago, DMV took another step by changing the way it makes and issues driver's licenses.

The new, polycarbonate licenses are difficult to alter and contain a number of security features to defeat fraud. What's more, DMV stopped issuing the licenses directly to customers over the counter, sending them instead by mail.

The approach was designed to link customers to verifiable addresses, unlike in the past, when the DMV once traced a customer's address to the Iwo Jima Memorial in Arlington County.

The agency will install computer software for automated address verification this fall.

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