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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The post Reason: Passport Applicants May Have To Affirm That They Are ‘Not Required To Register’ As Sex Offenders appeared first on Florida Action Committee (FAC).