The Trump Administration will begin revoking U.S. passports of Americans who owe significant amounts of child support as early as Friday, May 8.
"Under President Trump, the Department of State is using commonsense tools to support American families and strengthen compliance with U.S. laws. This includes preventing those who owe substantial amounts of court-ordered child support from neglecting their legal and moral obligations to their children," the State Department said in a press release on Thursday.
"U.S. law requires Americans to comply with child support obligations in order to receive a U.S. passport and allows the Department of State to revoke the passport of an individual who owes more than $2,500 in child support."
The $2,500 threshold was established by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act, which was signed into law by President Bill Clinton 30 years ago.
The State Department said that it's coordinating with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) "on an unprecedented scale" to cancel passports belonging to Americans who have accumulated a significant amount of outstanding child support debt.
State Department officials told The Associated Press that initial passport revocations beginning this weekend will focus on individuals who owe $100,000 or more, which is about 2,700 American passport holders, according to HHS.
The program will eventually expand to include passport holders who owe less but still above the $2,500 threshold.
"Any American with significant child support debt should arrange payment to the relevant state or states now to prevent passport revocation," the department said. "Once a passport is revoked, it may no longer be used for travel. Eligibility for a new passport will only be restored after child support debt is paid to the relevant state child support enforcement agency and the individual is no longer delinquent according to HHS records."
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