February 13, 2026
Data from the federal Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) and HHS reveal roughly $621 million in back child support payments have been collected, including nine collections of more than $300,000 since its 1998 establishment.
The Trump Administration is reinstating a 30-year-old law that revokes passports for parents who owe more than $100K in back child support, Fox News reported.
The move from the State Department will limit parents’ ability to travel outside the country until they are caught up on their paperwork. Under the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, the federal agency launched the Passport Denial Program to revoke passports for individuals with over $100,000 in assets.
While there are fewer than 500 people in that category, the department is allowing them to enter into a payment plan with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) upon receiving notice.
Under the same law, passport revocations for those with outstanding child support are allowed if the amount exceeds $2,500; however, the agency only acts when a person applies for a passport, to renew it, or for other services. With passports being valid for ten years, parents with massive back payment issues would be able to keep traveling without interference from the State Department.
But not anymore.
In a statement, according to The Travel, the State Department said it is “reviewing options to enforce long-standing law to prevent those owing substantial amounts of child support from neglecting their legal and moral obligations to their children” and sent a harsh warning.
“It is simple: deadbeat parents need to pay their child support arrears.”
The agency is taking things up a notch. A memo from the U.S. Department of State Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM) states that parents in this category who are already outside the U.S. will have their passports revoked, barring them from traveling to another country and forcing them to return home to settle their debt.
Data from the federal Office of Child Support Services (OCSS) and HHS revealed roughly $621 million in back child support payments have been collected, including nine collections of more than $300,000 since its 1998 establishment.
With plans to continue, affected parents will be notified by mail if their passport application is denied for failure to pay over $2,500. Still, before that, the state child support agency is known to notify the parent that they are in the Passport Denial Program or that their name is being submitted to OCSS.
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