PALACIOS, Texas — We’ve been warning you for months that changes to Texas driver’s licenses take place later this year.
Under the Real ID Act anyone looking to get a new or renewed license will have to prove their citizenship or lawful residency.
Those who can’t provide the proper documentation will be turned away.
Seniors 79 years of age and older must renew in person under the new law so many of them who have lived their whole lives without a birth certificate or passport now fear they will lose their driving privileges…
For one World War II veteran in Matagorda County the new requirements will have a big impact on his independence.
Alfred ‘Buck’ Burkett is 92 year old and loves to get behind the wheel of his new truck.
“I tell my kids, they want to drive, I say, ‘No, that truck belongs to me. I’m going to drive it," Burkett said.
He’s had a Texas driver’s license for more than 75 years.
It’s set to expire on his birthday next month and wants to renew it but he’s run into a roadblock.
“I wouldn’t be able to operate,” Burkett said. “It would shut me down.”
Burkett was born in a home in 1927 during the Depression and was never issued a birth certificate.
“They were more struggling about making a living then they was paperwork. If I was born with no problems that’s what they was happy about,” Burkett said.
His son, Jeffrey Burkett, said the changes are going to have a negative ripple effect on his father’s life because it’s the only form of photo ID that he has.
“He doesn’t have a debit card. He writes checks or he pays in cash so if he wants to write a check they’re going to ask for an ID," the son said. "His ID isn’t going to be valid anymore. They’re not going to accept that so it resonates through pretty much all aspects of his life."
The WWII vet is worried and doesn’t understand why someone like him would have to prove his citizenship to keep his license.
“I’ll either have to go to a nursing home or sell my house or sell my truck. I’ll have to do everything because I can’t, I can’t survive,” Burkett said.
DPS said if a birth certificate was never created and they don’t have a passport, staff will try and work with drivers to help them gather documents that can be used to establish citizenship.
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