COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The Department of Homeland Security is granting South Carolina an extension to comply with a new federal identification law. Word came Monday in a letter six hours after Gov. Mark Sanford said the state would not comply.
Sanford wrote Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and told him the state already does much of what the federal Real ID law requires.
Chertoff says the state is getting an extension because it's clear it is on its way to complying.
Without the extension, driver's licenses of South Carolina travelers wouldn't have been enough to get them aboard airplanes or into federal facilities beginning May 11.
Maine has also been given more time to sort out its differences with the government over a new federal identification law.
The deadline had been Monday. Homeland Security Secterary Michael Chertoff set a new deadline of 5 p.m. Wednesday to give the state more time to show progress toward meeting Real ID guidelines.
Maine is the only state that failed to meet the original deadline for a waiver or wasn't already working toward meeting the law's requirements.
Residents of states that don't get extensions may be barred from entering federal buildings and boarding airplanes using their current driver's licenses beginning in May.