4,500 registered sex offenders received passports
The State Department found out this year that it has the authority since 2008 to refuse passports to people convicted of crimes related to sex outside the borders of America.
A report published by the Government Accountability Office reveals that 4,500 registered sex offenders received passports in 2008. The State Department found out about its authority in April 2010, when they had done a study on the number of registered sex offenders who are given United States passports. So, the State Department can not deny passports to citizens registered as sex offenders in the United States, but they can do that with people accused of crimes related to sex tourism during the period when they are under observation or is imprisoned. GAO investigated 30 random individuals identified in the Sex Offender Registry and received passports, and the result was as expected.
In one case the sex offender was issued a passport while he was in prison, which is allowed under federal law, another one was issued a passport after being charged for an offend related to child support, an offence for which he was supposed to be denied when asking for a passport. The study showed that most of them, after receiving a passport, left the country and moved to Mexico.
