A new Trump administration policy is revoking passports for noncustodial parents who owe $50,000 or more in child support. The initiative, launched in May, has already led to the revocation of over 6,000 passports and the collection of nearly $1.5 million in past-due child support.
How the Policy Works
The State Department, in partnership with the Office of Child Support Enforcement at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has been using the Passport Denial Program since 1996 to deny new passport applications and renewals for parents owing $2,500 or more in child support. However, the new policy takes it a step further by actively revoking passports held by individuals owing substantial child support arrearages.
Several noncustodial parents have made large child support payments to avoid passport revocation. For example, a father in Nevada paid $119,000 in child support to receive his new passport, while a noncustodial parent in Connecticut paid nearly $180,000 to secure his passport.
Impact and Effectiveness
The policy has proven effective in compelling noncustodial parents to pay their overdue child support. The Office of Child Support Enforcement assists child support agencies in collecting past-due support through various mechanisms, including federal tax refund offsets, liens and levies against property and financial accounts, and insurance claim intercepts.
The administrative financial investment in child support collection programs has also proven to be highly cost-effective, with the child support program collecting $4.24 for every $1 spent in 2024.
Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
