The State Department is pulling the passports of thousands of parents who owe back child support, effective this week. The campaign begins Friday targeting those with $100,000 or more in arrears, affecting roughly 2,700 passport holders, before expanding dramatically to snare anyone owing over $2,500.
The revocation blitz marks a sharp escalation of enforcement under a largely dormant 1996 law. Until now, only parents renewing their passports faced the penalty. Under the new strategy, the Department of Health and Human Services will proactively flag delinquent accounts to the State Department, triggering automatic revocation for those holding valid travel documents.
"We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt," Mora Namdar, the State Department's assistant secretary for consular affairs, said in a statement. Parents who settle their debts can reapply for a passport, she added.
The scope of the expansion remains uncertain. Officials said HHS is still gathering complete data from state agencies on how many passport holders owe more than $2,500, but cautioned the number could be substantially larger than the initial 2,700.
The program has already shown muscle in changing behavior. Since the AP first reported the expansion plans in February, the State Department said it observed hundreds of parents resolve their arrears after learning about the enforcement push. While officials stopped short of claiming direct causation in every case, they framed the threat of passport revocation as a driver of compliance.
Looking at the broader track record, the State Department credited the passport revocation program with collecting $657 million in back child support since launching in earnest in 1998. Over the past five years alone, the effort yielded more than $156 million through over 24,000 lump-sum settlements.
Parents whose passports get revoked will receive notification they cannot travel and must apply for a replacement once their child support liability is cleared with state authorities. Those stranded abroad when a revocation takes effect can visit a U.S. embassy or consulate to obtain an emergency travel document for returning home.
Author James Rodriguez: "This is a blunt instrument with real teeth, and if it lights a fire under people who've dodged their obligations for years, it's hard to argue with the results."
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