US Passports To Feature 'Child Sex Offender'

Any registered child sex offender that wishes to travel overseas, will as from now have a sign in their passport identifying them to their visiting country as such.

Though the State Department did not clarify whether it would apply for existing passports, it is understood that any new requested passport for a child sex offender will now carry a printed notice that reads "The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to U.S. law."

The law is a continuation of "International Megan's Law," named after the murder of 7 year old Megan Kanka in New Jersey by a convicted child sex offender, and aims to curb child exploitation and child sex tourism, though it has also received stingy criticism from liberal thinkers for being overly broad and not leaving any grey areas.

Either you are a sex offender or you are not in other words. Whether it was for showing up at a kindergarten unwanted for example or for murdering a sever year old is a big difference, critics say.

The State Department responded that the language in the passports "will not prevent covered sex offenders from departing the United States, nor will it affect the validity of their passports."

The State Department, which issues all US passports, explains that all the people affected by the regulation will be notified as soon as they receive the list from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security.

That is the agency tasked with identifying child sex offenders and therefore the only legal entity that can add or remove anyone from the said list.

A spokesperson for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement responded by stating they would indeed need to be "exercising additional vetting procedures" to produce those names and that it is a "priority." but could not say when they would be sent to the State Department.

Source:

http://www.wral.com/child-sex-offenders-to-be-named-as-such-in-us-passports/17083892/