They can easily verify your identity using official ID, even if you don't have it with you. I was chosen for screening when I entered the country after a trip

They can easily verify your identity using official ID, even if you don't have it with you. I was chosen for screening when I entered the country after a trip to Mexico, at a border checkpoint in or near Brownsville, and the Border Patrol agent pulled my driver's license info up on his computer. He asked for my driver's license, he typed in the number, and all of the information popped right up on his screen, including the photo. Assuming you have a driver's license and the TSA has access to the same technology the Border Patrol does, name and address and a five-second search ought to be sufficient. Any extra inconvenience or unpleasantness they inflict on you is probably only intended to make sure you don't make a habit of forgetting your ID.