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The Department of Homeland Security is trying to respond to the widespread rejection of the costly and invasive Real ID program with the equivalent of cheap bribes.

It is trying to entice states, such as New Mexico, that are tasked with paying for the program with a mere trickle of federal dollars.

Many states are vigorously opposing Real ID, but it is even more complicated for New Mexico where there has been strong opposition, because it is one of about 10 states that issues driver's licenses to nonresident workers.

Homeland Security believes that state-based opposition will drift away if it offers funding so paltry it doesn't begin to make a dent in the price of the national driver's license program.

To date, Congress has appropriated only $40 million to divide amongst the states, of which only $3 million has actually been given to a state - Kentucky. Republican Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander - who opposes Real ID but as a former governor also hates unfunded mandates - is likely to offer an amendment to the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations bill to fund a portion of Real ID.

Alexander offered a similar amendment in the Appropriations Committee, but it was rejected in part because it robbed Peter to pay Paul by trying to steal funding from port security grants.

Alexander faces the same problem, again, because there are no other programs to steal from in the department's budget. If Alexander's amendment is similar to the one offered and rejected by the Appropriations Committee, Congress will divide $300 million among the states by population to pay for the Real ID license. The net effect would drive the estimated cost to state governments down from $14.6 billion to $14.3 billion.

Something here doesn't add up, and it isn't just the numbers. Call it a fool's bargain. Call it a bait and switch. The ACLU calls it what it is: sucker money.

The federal government's lure to state governments won't cover the cost of the card, let alone the infrastructure needed to implement it. Even with government funding, state governments would still have to shoulder anywhere from $20 million (for Washington, D.C.) to almost $2 billion (for California), based on interpretations of DHS estimates. The real burden for Real ID will fall on the very taxpayers who actually have opposed it in a sort of Real ID rebellion.

Seventeen states have opted out of Real ID and seven have passed binding legislation prohibiting them from participating (Arkansas, Georgia, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma and Washington). The New Mexico House overwhelmingly passed a memorial resolution in opposition, but otherwise has taken no official position.

Scheduled for implementation next year, Real ID has set a precedent. Never in modern American history have states opted out of a government mandate en masse.

Governors and attorneys general across the country have railed against the program on the grounds of privacy, states' rights and perhaps most unifying, the enormous cost to state governments and taxpayers.

Homeland Security continues to propose inadequate help for the states, but even if the government chose to fully fund their mandate, Real ID would be plagued with untold problems. Taxpayers would still have to pay for the program through federal taxes, and even more, it invades every American's privacy and puts checkpoints on every stop in daily American life.

Real ID is a national identity card that would hold machine-readable data of every American. That information would be stored in a national database available to government employees at all levels, putting every American at risk of identity theft and security breaches.

Ultimately, Real ID could pave the way for a society that tracks Americans' movements and warehouses personal information in centralized databases that are vulnerable and highly enticing to identity thieves.

Because Real ID promises to be such an integral part of our lives, from boarding a plane to opening a bank account to verifying your eligibility to work, a small error could have disastrous consequences.

The recent U.S. passport rules for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and US-VISIT, two failed programs that have relied on government IDs, have shown that a card system is only as good as the infrastructure behind it. And, we all know, the Department of Motor Vehicles never has had a sterling reputation.

We encourage New Mexicans to urge our public officials in Santa Fe and Washington, D.C., to reject this amendment. Real ID is too costly to be worthwhile, both in terms of our pocketbooks and the spirit of our country.

Potter is communications manager of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and is an ACLU expert on how Real ID affects New Mexico.