“Sex offender” question to be asked on passport applications.
International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders, known as IML, requires the State Department to include a unique identifier in the passports of registered sex offenders covered under the law based on their conviction for a sex offense against a minor. When an offender travels internationally, this identifier enables the U.S. Marshals Service National Sex Offender Targeting Center (NSOTC) to inform destination countries, and DSS to notify regional security officers.
Although IML specifically authorizes the department to ask passport applicants their sex offender registration status to identify who is covered by the law, Mr. May learned that application forms currently do not include this question. Further, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) does not have the capacity to preemptively check the estimated 900,000 registered sex offenders in the U.S. to determine who is covered by IML. Counterparts in DHS’ Angel Watch Center (AWC) indicated to Mr. May that, if checked, as many as 500,000 of those individuals have convictions against children and would therefore require a unique passport identifier. By asking the question of applicants, AWC could focus on offenders most likely to travel.
Since the law was implemented in 2017, NSOTC and AWC have urged the department to include the question of sex offender registration status on the passport application form, as intended by the IML authors. Instead, Mr. May found that the department actively denied the request for years, suggesting that anyone honest enough to answer such a question would also volunteer their registration status on the form without being asked. In reality, the policy garnered just 80 self-declarations out of an estimated 60,000 covered offenders who most likely applied for passports from 2017 to 2020.
To address this critical omission, Mr. May organized stakeholder meetings with the Bureau of Consular Affairs, AWC, NSOTC, and DSS. He informed department leadership that IML implementation problems were also of grave concern to America’s leading child protection organizations, nonprofits, and reporting centers, drawing the attention of the department’s own Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons and the White House’s National Security Council.
Mr. May dedicated significant time and expertise to improving the passport application process in order to combat the sexual exploitation of children. He repeatedly raised the issue to the appropriate bodies within the department, despite the risks involved. as some in senior positions continually dismissed the problem and rebuffed proposed improvements to the system.
“I am most perplexed as to why we have resisted so,” he tells the Journal. “At first, some in the department misunderstood the scope of the problem, believing that the number of potentially covered offenders under IML was 5,000 and not 500,000. But even after we saw the true number, no progress was made.”
Discover more from Florida Action Committee
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Hello I was convicted in 2003 I was 19 the girl was 15 I just renewed my passport 5 months ago I have no identifier on it I gave my 21 day notice in November I am going to the Bahamas in a couple weeks I have heard stories where people get to the airport and since they do not have the identifier on their passport they get their passport confiscated and basically their passport is invalid I just want to know what I should do since this trip is so close
I feel for you. I’ve had the same concerns. However, I’ve tried 3 times over the last several years to get any kind of response from the Angel Watch people in our government. The feds will not communicate with me at all. So, cross your fingers, I guess. Also, if you’re eligible for the Romeo and Juliet exception to the registry, I’d check into it.
Hello john i am applying for a passport for the first time do i have to send in a written statement of my SOR status with the passport application?
How did it worked out for you? Did you get to go without a problem?
If I had not left Virginia to help my parents here in Florida, I would no longer be on a registry (I am no longer on the Virginia registry where my offense took place) and my voting rights would have been automatically restored. I like Florida and the many friends I have made here, but our politicians need to move into at least the 20th century. Salem witch trials are over.
And keep in mind, law enforcement arrests a lot of people who shouldn’t be arrested either due to lack of knowledge of the law or even “They will just let the courts sort it out” attitude. Even if the arrest is thrown out, you still have an arrest on your record, making it much harder to get off the registry. (Even sealed records can be accessed with a court order)
A lawyer I use to see back when I could afford to, told me just stay home until your 20 years is up just to be safe. Well I already feel like I am in prison in our own home. I cannot even imagine the depression rate of people and their families on the registries. My Kids are grown now and my grandkids legally changed their last names (With my blessings) to avoid harassment at school and with playmates.
“(B) is currently required to register under the sex offender registration program of any jurisdiction”
When I called the FDLE several times over the past decade, a supervisor told me my out of state registrant is not required to register or update (his decade old) registry information. So he is not currently required to register. Could that make a difference with IML (B) language of ‘currently required’?
could be…
The statute says that?? Good catch Mable!
Out-of-staters are NOT required to register, after all. They’re listed on the registry and maintained on the website, but that is not the same as an obligation to register, as paralegal Larry N reminds us every week, whenever Florida is mentioned on his podcast.
Unfortunately IML is not administered that way. I’m no lawyer but whomever brings the next court challenge might raise the issue of the plain language of this statute.
Many states also have language to the tune of “if you have ever been required to register in another state, you’re required to register in that one as well.” Paraphrasing..
Ben
If I had the money I would travel to all 50 states. Could you image being on all 50 states registry? Yes I am being facetious but these rules, laws and ordinances get worse and more draconian with every session. I already feel somewhat like I am on house arrest.
Come on, Jack. These tyrants have to have some sort of justification to support their jobs and income. Maybe we need to have a ‘Be Kind to Tyrants’ day. If the only way they can earn a living is by degrading other citizens, give them a break. They need to be able to earn their beer money.
I am off of the registry in my home state. However I was made aware that I am still on Florida’s registry “as out of state”. I took a small vacation there and had to report. And it doesn’t look like I can be removed until 20 years is up. Do I still need to notify NSOTC of international travel even though I’m off of the registry in my home state?
I’ve asked this question a plethora of times, let me know if you get the answer. 🙂
The answer is a very clear YES. According the attorney I hired – being actively listed on the Florida website triggers the need to submit your INTERNATIONAL travel plans 21 days in advance regardless of NOT being required to register in the state you reside.
Thanks for the definitive answer regarding international travel. Now, can you give a definitive answer on domestic travel in the same scenario (which is notifying the states you travel to, other than to the state that you’re stuck for life on the registry [Florida])?
As an actively registered person in the state of Florida (even though you and I do not live in the state) we will show up on the National SO registry (https://www.nsopw.gov/).
Therefore, you need to follow the rules of the state you are visiting in regards to where you stay in some cases and how long you can be in that state before you are legally required to register with the local authorities.
In other words, as long as you are registered in the Florida you are most definitely not free to roam the US without great caution. But it’s not punishment…
Next summer, my 25 yrs will be up with the federal government. If I move from Florida to Maryland, where I won’t be required to register (even though Florida will keep me on its registry), I will apply for a passport and will travel internationally without notifying anyone. That’s because my responsibility with the feds will be over and I won’t have one with Maryland. Florida may cause me to remain on the national registry, but that won’t affect my plans to travel internationally.
There comes a time in our lives when we have to take a stand against tyranny, be it lawful or unlawful. My United States offers forgiveness and restoration. Some of these tyrannical politicians can take their so-called laws and place them where the sun don’t shine. Every opportunity is an opportunity to show others how we live in accordance with human decency and to let others know that we do not respect any form of government that focuses on destroying our liberty after a price has been paid. I did 29 years of military service to earn my liberty and I will not easily give that liberty up.
Please update us as to the outcome of your international trip. If you wouldn’t mind giving us feedback that is always appreciated and potentially useful to others.
If I make the move, I certainly will. In fact, any time that I learn anything that I think will help folks on this message board, I will share it.
Oh, I can tell you the real reason they don’t ask the question…I applied for a passport in 2020, paid my $130 (or whatever it was) fee and got my passport. I used it once then got a letter in the mail saying it didn’t have the sex offender wording and it was now invalid. I needed to request a new one with the identifier for another $130 if I wanted to have a passport.
The EXACT same thing happened to me, except… I didn’t get the letter, I was stopped while boarding my next flight and my passport was confiscated. Two weeks LATER, after I’d already re-applied, I got the letter.
They really want that $130.
Who confiscated your Passport? The Airline?
Same thing happened to me. Had to pay again even though it was a miss print on their part.