State Department to pull additional passports from parents who owe child support

The Trump administration is preparing to expand passport revocations for parents who owe significant child support, limiting their ability to travel internationally until their arrears are addressed.

The State Department plans to increase enforcement of a 30-year-old federal law that allows the government to revoke U.S. passports for individuals with substantial unpaid child support, according to The Associated Press, which cited three U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

It is unclear how many people could ultimately be affected, though officials indicated the number could reach into the thousands. The State Department is expected to implement the changes in phases due to the potentially large number of passport holders who owe back child support, the officials said.

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The first group to be targeted will be passport holders who owe more than $100,000 in past-due child support, the officials told the outlet. One official said fewer than 500 people meet that threshold. Those individuals could retain their passports if they enter into a payment plan with the Department of Health and Human Services after being notified of a pending revocation.

The official added that lowering the past-due threshold in the future would significantly increase the number of parents subject to enforcement.

It remains unclear when any further changes would take effect or how many people might have their passports revoked as a result.

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Passport revocations for unpaid child support exceeding $2,500 have been permitted under a 1996 law known as the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. In recent years, however, the State Department typically acted only when an individual applied to renew a passport or sought other consular services.

Under the updated approach, the department would begin revoking passports based on data shared by the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the officials who spoke to The Associated Press.

The State Department said in a statement to The Associated Press that it “is reviewing options to enforce long-standing law to prevent those owing substantial amounts of child support from neglecting their legal and moral obligations to their children.”

“It is simple: deadbeat parents need to pay their child support arrears,” the statement added.

Since the Passport Denial Program began with the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, nearly $621 million in past-due child support payments have been made, including nine payments of more than $300,000, according to the Office of Child Support Enforcement at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.