An article summarized by the Associated Press:
The U.S. State Department announced it will begin revoking the passports of Americans who owe large amounts of unpaid child support, starting with roughly 2,700 people who owe $100,000 or more. Officials say the policy expansion begins Friday and is designed to pressure delinquent parents into paying overdue support obligations.
The program will soon expand even further to include anyone owing more than $2,500 in unpaid child support, matching the threshold established under a 1996 federal law that had previously been only lightly enforced. Under the updated policy, the Department of Health and Human Services will regularly provide the State Department with records of overdue payments, allowing officials to proactively revoke existing passports instead of only denying renewals.
Officials say the policy has already encouraged some parents to resolve their debts, noting that states have collected hundreds of millions of dollars through passport-related enforcement efforts since the program began in 1998. Individuals whose passports are revoked will be unable to travel internationally until their debts are paid, and Americans currently overseas would need to obtain emergency travel documents from U.S. embassies or consulates in order to return home.
