Three executive branch agencies — the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Justice — have reported to Congress their plans to implement the International Megan’s Law (IML). The 17-page report also includes a request for an additional $9.3 million in funding each year to implement that law.
According to the report, the Angel Watch Center (AWC) will provide written determinations to the Department of State regarding whether an individual is a “covered sex offender”. After that determination is made, the State Department will add an individual’s name to its existing name check system, the Consular Lookout and Support System.
Also according to the report, the State Department will add a “unique identifier” to the endorsement page of a covered individual’s passport. The shape and size of the “unique identifier” has not yet been determined, however, the State Department expects to make that decision no later than December 31, 2016. In preparation for the addition of “unique identifiers”, the State Department is making “technological modifications” to its passport issuance system. After making its decisions, the State Department will send “guidance” regarding the internet identifiers to its overseas consular posts as well as to domestic passport agencies.
The Department of Homeland Security will assume additional duties as it implements the IML, including establishment of a “mechanism” to receive complaints from registrants affected by notifications to destination countries. The report states that Operation Angel Watch, the precursor to the Angel Watch Center, began in Los Angeles in 2007 and was focused upon “known child sex offenders” traveling to Southeast Asian countries. The operation moved to Washington, D.C., in 2010 and expanded its focus worldwide.
According to the report, the purpose of the IML’s Angel Watch Center is to reduce the risk of child sex tourism. The individuals being monitored by the Center are “those convicted of child sexual abuse or child pornography offenses who may travel overseas and sexually abuse or exploit minors”. The Center made more than 2,100 notifications to more than 95 countries in fiscal year 2015. More than half of these notifications resulted from input received from four states — Colorado, Florida, Texas and Washington.
The Angel Watch Center expects to increase to 5,000 annually its notifications to foreign nations in the future due to increased state notifications which are required by the IML. Due to this expected increase, the Center will request funding for four additional employees, known as Angel Watch international liaisons, to work in Mexico, the Caribbean, Manila and Bogota (to cover South America).
The National Sex Offender Targeting Center, which is part of the United States Marshalls Service, will increase its activities as well due to the IML. Part of the activities include developing initiatives with law enforcement partners to mitigate the risk of U.S. citizen sex offenders “who are living abroad undetected.”
Congressional Report August 2016
everyday this is allowed to continue will make it more and more impossible to undo this thing!!! The damage is permanently being done! if it isn’t impossible to travel the world now–it wont be long before it is!!
I think EVERY single one of us needs to write to Obama NOW. Maybe someone can generate a letter and we can add in your own personal plight of how this will affect you. Everyone should use the same colored envelope..to get noticed. Bombard him. This is the fastest way something could change. In fact send one to Michelle also anything to get them to look at this.
Can someone tell me where i can find a list of SORNA states????
I’m a Level 1 New York child pornography clearly stated in court and and acknowledged by the court that I am no threat to children. That is the legal standard- no child contact no threat nor danger.
So let’s say you give the 21 day notice- to whom? where? what do you receive, permission to travel?
Let’s say you fly to countries where they recognize the UN Human Rights, what happens?
I am trying to evaluate where we are in this legal battle for our lives. Are we gaining ground or has the enemy (government) washed away any of our gains by enacting ever increasing laws that restrict us. I am trying to gather some kind of hope. I am the type of person that is goal oriented and need something to hang onto in this sea of unconstitutional attacks. Can anyone shed any light on this?
So, as it stands right now, where are we? My passport expires next April. It seems like the report says the marker will not be ready until December of this year. Should I apply to renew my passport now, and pay to rush the process? Will I then get a full 10 year passport? Will it be denied? Renewing this early would not be out of the ordinary, as most places require your passport to be valid for six months beyond your date of return.
My offense was one count of possession of pornography (under 12 years old) in the state of Maine.
Let’s see – they’re asking for $9.5 million to regulate a number of foreign trips which has been estimated variously at 2000 to 4000 per year. That’s $2400 to $4800 per trip they’ll spend just to watch registrants’ travel. What a bad deal for the taxpayers!
This quote from the article above is precisely one of the reasons I have warned about even the background check being a checkpoint at which to try to find something, any excuse they can, to crack down on an offender, whatever it might be, whether a registration violation or anything else at all. This MUST be stopped — this must be taken seriously and as a priority:
“The National Sex Offender Targeting Center, which is part of the United States Marshalls Service, will increase its activities as well due to the IML. Part of the activities include developing initiatives with law enforcement partners to mitigate the risk of U.S. citizen sex offenders ‘who are living abroad undetected.’ ”
Note in particular in that quote, “PART OF THE ACTIVITIES …” They don’t want you to realize the other parts.
This is NOT simply about warning other countries about sex offenders or in particular about offenders whose violation involved children! This is an improper and I think illegal fishing expedition — the is the “PART” that is devious, so much so that you don’t realize it, and dangerous! This is the kind of thing where if you give an inch they will take a mile, where if you give a small opening, they will drive a 18-wheeler truck through it.
And it scares the hell out of me that they will be contacting the states. They supposedly already have a federal list of all registrants — they should not have to check anything else at all to accomplish what they say they are trying to do — they already have the information to do what they say they are trying to accomplish.
When they are doing all kind of checks and other things that don’t seem necessary to what they say they are trying to do, you better realize that is rife with serious danger. To say the least, that makes what they are doing unjustifiably overly broad compared to what they say they are trying to accomplish. And that makes it very challengable.
So our enemy, the United States, is doing nothing to protect the people of other nations from the rest of American criminals?
I think it is time that other nations be made aware that millions of American criminals enter their nation every day and the only way to protect themselves is to refuse entry to all Americans ever arrested, regardless of disposition. If the American refuses to leave, they shall be executed publicly to send the message to all American criminals that they shall not leave the US.
How would this apply to the federal provisions that say after 10 years with no offense, no requirement to register ? (although they are ignoring this provision and keeping offenders on the registry anyway)
Also, why has this never been challenged as a Bill of Attainder ?
The provision to ‘protect the public’ should apply to ALL classes of criminals.
I think everyone, hopefully that is many should contact Rep Chris Smith and ask if he is Supporting Trump despite Trump’s admission of sexually assaulting women-a Sexual Offense. Here’s the link http://chrissmith.house.gov/contact/
A couple of more thoughts.
This is typical New Jersey ‘Make you feel good’ Legislation. Rep Chris Smith is anti everything except the Catholic Church. Again https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Smith_(New_Jersey_politician)
I loathe Trump and am proud that the New York Times published a comment of mine re Trump however considering what Obama has done I’m considering voting for Trump as a protest vote and a vote for my conscience.
Janice what happens when someone buys a boat and wants to leave the US without any particular destination.or any predetermined time line or agendas. this could be a real argument in this iml suit….I mean what are the registration people going to do if i ,an allengendly free American, goes in and tell thems the I’m leaving the country,dont knw where I’m going or what my agendas are…will it be a failure to register?? will they tell me i can’t leave????will I be a fugitive if I tell them I’m leaving and have no particular destination.or agendas and leave anyway??
this is a extremely good argument since there is no way to deny that this is a deprivation of the fundamental right to travel..which requires strict scrutiny….
I went to my local post office and got Form DS-11 09-2013 which is the application for a U.S Passport(not renewal). There is no question re criminal record. I am applying for Fast Track 3 weeks. It does ask for travel dates- departure and return and country/ies to be visited. I think I shall write United Kingdom as they can see that I am a UK National as well.
I have no doubts at all that they can see in a split second I have convictions for being in possession of 5 child porn images that the NYPD ‘informant’ placed on my brand new Mac which I had no idea how to use!
Oh. A warning. Don’t ever let a stranger touch anything that belongs to you! Even the ones who advertise they are MAC or PC specialists.
Received my new passport in the mail today, two weeks after my in-person application at the embassy. Looks just like my old one, no marks or identifiers that I can tell. Expires in 2026.
I have traveled to many countries since joining the military and many more after leaving it.
I only met the nicest, kindest people wherever I went. Only here did I experience hate and bigotry.
Now, I might never get to where I am happy. It really is a shame. Denying another person the chance for redemption is just cruel. We will never get that chance here, and they don’t want us to have that chance anywhere else.
Is anyone aware when or how we can get answers to these questions ? Seems there is no real clarity on following or breaking the law because no one really understands it. That’s scary!
My husband and I are going on a trip in a few months and we live in Ca , non Sorna state , so he doesn’t need to give 21 day notice but all of this is so vague. It scares me that we will arrive back home to find out he broke a law he didn’t know about.
We missed the call last week , was there any discussion of IML ?
I brought this up before. While on probation I sought permission from my judge to leave the country. Based on my progress he decided I was not a danger to leave the country. Now with the government deciding who to send letters on isn’t this a serious violation of separation of power?
Does anyone have a list of the SORNA states or where can i find that information? Is New Jersey one of them because thats where i live, im sure there has to be a listing somewhere. i sent janice a email but havent recieved a response yet
For California registrants I can say that I just filled out and submitted the new form “Notice of Intended International Travel” a bit over 21 days in advance of my planned departure for a vacation in Europe. The word “Intended” is very important here and it looks to me like accidental changes such as missed flights or a booking mistake at a hotel will not get you in hot water. After the title the form begins “In order to satisfy federal legal requirements…” so I assume that this form has been worked out with the IML people, and will be the same once the IML is officially implemented, presumably in a few months.
So what does it ask of you? 1) How you’re leaving the US, usually airline and flight number, then 2) location and dates wherever you’re staying. What it doesn’t ask for is any further travel details (flights, train, car, bus, walking or even the return flight). So I found it less formidable than I feared. Still, I had to work out a full plan for the trip.
I got the form by email from my local police. Thanks to Chance Oberstein for alerting me to its existence and to the advisability of submitting it even though it’s not strictly required yet.
It’s not about safety. It’s not about doing the right thing. It’s about funding for these agencies and the inability to take a stance for civil rights.
Ignorance and the abuse of registrants is the only theme here and the payoff to these departments is enormous. The cowardice is on full display here, make no doubt about it. A fountain of youth for politicians et all.
Shame on all of these so called “Americans”. Shame shame shame.
I have a question to ask Janice, is it unlawful to advocate violence when your rights are being denied to you, even by a government, when every law says that what they are doing is illegal?
I hope the bill requires other countries to do the same, costs them money and time too. Discriminate against their citizens as well. We have a right to know, don’t we?
I submitted my application to-day for a new passport enclosing my expired passport requesting expedited with a travel date December 1st 2016. You have to fill in date of leaving and return and destination so I wrote Dec 1 – Dec7 U.K.
Was told takes about two weeks. I would expect that many of us would suffer anxiety as to the next step?
Mailed in my old passport for renewal as it was expired and will see what arrives. As explained in the letter Janice received from the DOJ they state that passports are still being issued without the sex offender identifier and that those who need to turn in their passports will be notified by mail. Guess that part will be easy for those of us who follow their law which demands that they have our current address!
Again, this is just grandstanding and totally a waste of time and makes America look even more foolish to the rest of the world than it already does…I mean, following the led of the Nazis is not exactly what the “Land of the Free” is about but with the psychos who become professional politicians perhaps it makes perfect sense to emulate the Nazis to get your policies pushed through since the passive general population really doesn’t care about some small minority like “sex offenders”…
America continues to circle the drain…
Anyway, I will report back if I receive the new passport, or if I get a rejection letter effectively keeping me trapped within the borders of the USA at which point I will consider myself a political prisoner held against my will!