State Dept begins revoking passports of 2,700 parents who owe $100,000+ in child support

The State Department began revoking passports on May 8, 2026, from approximately 2,700 parents who owe $100,000 or more in unpaid child support. This is the first phase of a program that will eventually reach all parents owing more than $2,500. The revocations are proactive and aren't triggered by renewal applications. Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar announced the expansion, saying the program is "expanding a commonsense practice that has been proven effective at getting those who owe child support to pay their debt." ()

The legal authority is the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 (PRWORA), signed by President Clinton. Section 370 authorized the State Department to deny or revoke passports for parents owing more than $2,500 in child support. The original threshold was $5,000; the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 lowered it to $2,500. The $2,500 threshold has stayed unchanged for over 20 years. The Trump administration didn't change the law. It changed how aggressively the existing authority is enforced. ()

Before May 8, 2026, the passport penalty was passive. A parent would be denied only when applying for a new passport or renewal, at which point the State Department checked the HHS delinquency list. Under the new approach, HHS sends State a complete list of all delinquent parents proactively and existing passports are revoked without a renewal trigger. The Associated Press first reported the expansion plan in February 2026. Since that report, the State Department said hundreds of parents resolved their arrears with state agencies before the May 8 start date. ()

The Department of Health and Human Services administers federal child support enforcement through the Office of Child Support Services under the Administration for Children and Families. HHS tracks delinquent parents through state child support enforcement agencies and submits certified delinquency lists to the State Department. In FY2024, the program served 11.6 million cases and collected $26.7 billion in child support. Once a parent is on the list, the State Department has authority to revoke or deny a passport. ()

To restore passport eligibility, a delinquent parent must pay the full child support debt to the relevant state child support enforcement agency and be cleared from the federal delinquency list. There is no partial payment or payment plan option that restores federal passport eligibility. The ACF notes that some state agencies may work with parents on payment plans for ongoing obligations, but the federal passport denial status requires full HHS clearance. ()

Federal regulations at 22 C.F.R. Part 51 require the State Department to provide notice before revoking a passport and allow a 60-day window to request review. H.R. 6903, passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee 40-2 in January 2026, would codify revocation as a mandatory enforcement remedy and allow temporary passports in emergency situations. Civil liberties organizations and the ACLU have flagged that proactive revocation without individualized hearings may raise Fifth Amendment 📖due process concerns, a question no court has yet resolved. ()

Child support is enforced through a federal-state partnership. States run child support enforcement agencies and set payment schedules through family courts. Critics of the expansion note that many parents owe large balances not because they refused to pay, but because interest, penalties, and institutional enforcement gaps accumulated debt while they lacked income to pay. The average amount owed among non-custodial parents with child support debt is more than $19,000, far below the initial $100,000 threshold. ()

Americans abroad when their passport is revoked won't be stranded. The State Department said those whose passports are revoked while they are outside the U.S. can obtain an emergency travel document from a U.S. embassy or consulate to return home. The revoked passport can no longer be used for international travel after revocation. ()