Reason: Passport Applicants May Have To Affirm That They Are ‘Not Required To Register’ As Sex Offenders

Under a proposed State Department policy, U.S. passport applicants would have to affirm that they are “not required to register” as sex offenders. If they are “required to register,” they would have to submit a “supplementary explanatory statement under oath.”

The State Department says that change, which it announced in a Federal Register notice seeking public comment last month, is “in accordance with” the International Megan’s Law (IML), which requires “unique passport identifiers” for “covered sex offenders.” Although that 2016 law is ostensibly aimed at preventing “child sex tourism,” it applies to many people who have never engaged in such conduct or shown any propensity to do so. The proposed passport affirmation sweeps even more broadly, and it is apt to have a chilling effect on international travel by Americans who are required to register as sex offenders—a category that includes nearly 800,000 people, many of whom have never committed crimes anything like those targeted by the IML.

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2 thoughts on “Reason: Passport Applicants May Have To Affirm That They Are ‘Not Required To Register’ As Sex Offenders

  • April 14, 2025

    This is shameful but IMO they do not care. I do believe this may run into First Amendment Violations as well as 4th but I am not sure as the way things are going.

    Reply
    • April 17, 2025

      To do crime is SHAMEFUL

      Reply

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