U.S. Will Revoke Passports Over Unpaid Child Support
State Department will coordinate with HHS to revoke passports for parents owing $2,500+, beginning with those owing $100,000 or more (about 2,700 people).
TownhallHere's Why the U.S. Will Soon Start Revoking Some Passports
World News GroupU.S. to revoke passports for unpaid child support
Straight Arrow NewsState Department to revoke passports over unpaid child support
Epoch TimesUS to Revoke Passports of People Who Owe ‘Significant’ Child Support
BBC NewsUS to revoke passports of parents with child support debt
Overview
The Department of State announced on May 7, 2026 that it will revoke U.S. passports of Americans who owe significant amounts of child support.
The action uses a rarely enforced 1996 federal law that allows passport denial or revocation for those who owe more than $2,500 in child support, the State Department said.
Officials said they would begin by targeting parents who owe $100,000 or more in child support, a group they estimated at about 2,700 people, according to figures supplied by HHS.
The program will be greatly expanded to include parents who owe more than $2,500, but HHS is still collecting state agency data and the total could encompass many more thousands, officials said.
Once revoked, passports cannot be used for travel and individuals will be ineligible for new passports until their child support debt has been paid, the State Department said.
Analysis
Center-leaning sources frame the passport-revocation policy as pragmatic enforcement for child welfare by foregrounding official rationale and outcome claims while treating criticism as secondary. Editorial choices—opening with government statements, highlighting administrative success claims, and emphasizing caveats about causation or demographic mismatches—downplay systemic critiques and racial/economic impact arguments.