Photo courtesy of publicdomainpictures.net

By David L. Snelling

MIAMI – If you owe thousands of dollars in back child support payments, don’t make any plans to travel abroad just yet.

The State Department announced officials it is stepping up child support enforcement by starting the process of revoking passports of people who owe $2,500 or more in arrears and ban parents from obtaining travel documents if they fall behind on their payments.

The State Department said it is continuing to hold parents accountable for failing to live up to their obligations to financially support their kids.
“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.

It is an unprecedented move, which could impact millions of Americans who frequently travel to foreign countries for business or leisure time.

But the President Donald Trump administration said it is necessary to take away some of their privileges for racking up significant outstanding child support debt.

The State Department is coordinating with the Department of Health and Human Services to revoke Americans passports.”This action supports the welfare of American children by exacting real consequences for child support delinquency under existing federal law,” the State Department said.

Any American with significant child support debt should arrange payment to the relevant state or states now to prevent passport revocation.

According to the State Department, 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.

In 1996, then-President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act into law, which grants the secretary of State the authority to revoke or limit passports from people with significant child support debt.
“We are expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt,” Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said in a social media statement.

How many people will be impacted is unknown.

According to the U.S. Census, roughly 4.1 million parents received child support payments in 2021, totaling $20.2 billion.

The figure reflects the ongoing financial support system for children, with many parents owing support to cover their children’s basic needs.

According to a 2023 Current Population Survey, about one in four children under the age of 21 lived with only one parent in 2022, while the other parent lived outside the household

However, sometimes an agreement to provide financial support is informally agreed upon among the parents without a court order.

Of the 5.7 million custodial parents with child support agreements, 91.0 percent reported that these agreements were formal legal orders, established by a court or other government entity, while 9.0 percent reported informal agreements.

White parents receive the most in child support than any other race.

Among the populations from ages 20 to 40, about 73 percent of fathers receive payments while white mothers stand at 64 percent.

Blacks follow with 26 percent of mothers and 19 percent fathers, respectively, receiving child support payment.

For Hispancis, 26 percent for mothers and 22 percent for fathers.

But the report doesn’t mention if payments are owed to them or the amounts.

The new law of revoking passports could impact millions of U.S. citizens who travel internationally each year.

According to Travel Pander. com, roughly 40 million Americans travel to foreign countries, which is 12 percent of the total population.

In 2023, about 80. 7 million U.S. citizens traveled internationally, which was a significant increase from the previous years.

It’s a remarkable recovery during the post-COVID-19 pandemic.

The new law of revoking deadbeat parents’ passports could cause an uproar.

Vivian Robinson, a coordinator with the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement, said some who are currently traveling overseas for an extended period of time could have their passports revoked and would need to go to a consulate to get emergency papers to return to the U.S.

That could take days.
“If you are in arrears they will revoke your passport no matter where you are,” she said on social media. “The department will send you a letter informing you of such.”

The new law adds another layer of enforcement for parents to keep up with their child support payments.

For those who fell behind, the government can garnish their wages and bank accounts and suspend their driver’s license.