The State Department is threatening to take away the passports of certain sex offenders.
Federal law requires registered sex offenders to display a unique mark on their passports to notify officials in foreign governments when they travel abroad. Passports that do not contain the mark could be confiscated, the State Department said Thursday. Full Article
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https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-21087.pdf
Janice Bellucci comment: According to the article, the IML case was dismissed which is not true. The article links to an article from April 2016 which correctly reported that our Motion for a Preliminary Injunction was denied, but not that the case was dismissed.
I just returned from a European trip – I was there for nearly 3 weeks. Yes, I have dual citizenship, so my leaving US/entering Europe was on my EU passport, but when I returned I used my US passport. I live in CA, NOT SORNA, I notified NO ONE of my plans, had NO ISSUES upon leaving or travel in Europe, visiting 9 countries. For those with US passports, once you DO ENTER the EU, there are NO MORE passport or customs checks when travelling BETWEEN EU countries ( I did not visit the UK at all). When returning to US, I flew into NY/JFK airport. Of course, got the X on my entry voucher from the kiosk. But the CBP guy I first got to was very nice, took me to the “office” where I was quickly asked only 1 question, the last 4 of my SS number. I was stamped and sent on to baggage claim. When I passed through the final check, the young guy said to his supervisor, “hey, they wrote something at primary, do you want to talk to this guy?” The supervisor looked at me, dressed in suit and tie, and said, nah, have a nice night sir. I was out of customs in about 30 minutes TOTAL. The lesson for all is LOOK PROFESSIONAL, don’t look like a low life and you will have no problems at re-entry USUALLY. I will answer any questions anyone has, but my passport was not even given a second look and it had NO ENTRY STAMPS, since I only used it to ENTER the US. We all need to stop anticipating the worst, when the best usually happens. Great trip BTW and I will be at the LA meeting in Oct to answer any questions anyone has.
Janice –
As an addition to your regular arguments about the “mark” on passports, on my recent trip to Europe, you are required to show your passport not only when you first enter the EU, but at EVERY hotel, when renting a car, even when entering some ‘sensitive’ tourist attractions (the Reichstag in Berlin for example). This can only help your argument that the “mark” would have other implications besides at customs/border crossings.
Janice–
If it helps our case: I have relocated abroad. The Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Immigration Bureau are all aware of my status; I provided full documentation and was allowed to emigrate after a lengthy ordeal to be with my family. Not only do you need a passport to check into hotels or to gain access to certain tourist locations, (the ones that need reservations), but also as a foreigner to be able get a driver’s license, apply for jobs, open a bank account, move to a different city, (everyone here has to update moves with their city hall) and even get a library card need a passport. It’s the law here that you have to carry a passport at all times.
I guess I’m a little miffed as well about all of this. PK had mentioned this as well.
Janice said something to the effect of getting new plaintiffs to challenge IML, but before she said that, she mentioned challenging this rule by the state department.
I thought the challenge to IML was already set no? Are there multiple challenges to IML?
Secondly, what about the challenge to the state department rule?
So right around the time when Janice was asking for donations, and collecting money from people, there were no less than 3 phone conferences with the people from National RSOL. These phone conferences generally lasted about 1 hour.
Did this fall by the wayside or something? I haven’t seen any news or information about a phone conference for months.
It looks like this whole IML and passport issue could affect a lot of people, and perhaps some little clarification from Janice, or perhaps another phone conference would help people understand what is going on with this.
Are the phone conferences contingent upon receiving more donations or something? I would be happy to do that if that is what is needed.
Thank you.
Just got off the phone with The American council passport division. She said the rules are indeed as of ‘now’. According to the supervisor, when you apply for a passport, the passport agency sends the info to the state department. If there is a ‘hit’, they will either put a code, restrict the passport to a certain number of years, or completely deny it, depending. “There are some people we don’t want traveling abroad at all.” She couldn’t give me any firm details or even a hypothetical ‘what if.’
What is the status of the petition that was filed in response to the flawed State Dept rule published in the Federal Register on Sept 2. Also, Janice had mentioned that she would soon be having a discussion with an AUSA regarding this petition. Any updates on this appreciated. Thanks!
i just had my passport renewed. Does that mean they put that chip in it already. was convicted of a cp posetion 10 years ago