Restrictions on Issuance of U.S. Federal law permits  the Secretary of State to deny or revoke the issuance of passports only in  certain circumstances, including, but not limited to, when the individual  is subject to a criminal court order, condition of probation, or condition of  parole, any of which forbids departure from the United States and the  violation of which could result in the issuance of a federal warrant of  arrest, including a warrant issued under the Federal Fugitive Felon Act;  is over $2,500 delinquent in child support;  is delinquent in certain State debts;    has an outstanding felony warrant;    has an outstanding foreign felony warrant;  is subject to an extradition request that has been presented to a foreign  country;    has been declared legally incompetent;    used a passport or crossed an international border to commit an act based  on which the individual was subsequently convicted of certain drug  trafficking crimes, but only during the period the individual is imprisoned  or on parole or supervised release; or    used a passport or crossed an international border to commit an act based  on which the individual was subsequently convicted under the federal “sex  tourism” statute, but only during the period the individual is imprisoned or  on parole or supervised release. The Department of State Issued Thousands of Passports to Registered Sex Offenders in Fiscal Year 2008

About 4,500 registered sex offenders were issued a passport in fiscal year  2008. The NSOR data also indicated that about 50 registered sex offenders who  were issued passports either lived outside of the United States or their  whereabouts were unknown. Further, at least 12 individuals were landlords in the Department of  Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Section 8 housing program  during fiscal years 2006 and 2007 while they were registered sex  offenders. At  the time of their criminal offenses, many of them held positions of public  trust—for example, health care provider, school teacher, religious layman,  law enforcement official, federal employee, and owner of HUD Section 8  houses. Other cases involve registered sex offenders who owe child  support or are currently in prison or whose whereabouts are unknown  according to the NSOR. Finally, another individual has illegally failed to register with the  police department as a sex offender for several years. Agency Comments and Our Evaluation

We provided a draft of this report to DOJ and State for comment. DOJ  stated that it did not have comments on the report. State’s assessment of the details of our case studies as “graphic” is the  result of the nature of the criminal acts of the passport recipients; the  offenses are directly relevant to our objective to develop case studies of  passport recipients who are sex offenders. Appendix I: Additional Examples of Registered Sex Offenders Who Were Issued U.S. The offender stated that he used the passport to travel to Japan for business. In the bathroom, the offender  engaged in inappropriate sexual contact. To be accurate and balanced, the  title should read:  “Existing U.S. Law Allows Passports to Be Issued to Registered  Sex Offenders, Although GAO Found No Evidence That Sex Offenders Used  Their Passports to Travel Abroad to Commit Sex Offenses.”
The Secretary of State has responsibility for issuing passports to U.S. nationals and  may only deny an application for a passport if there is a legal basis for denial. As  noted above, we currently have limited authority to deny passports to certain sex  offenders.
Why GAO Did This Study

A U.S. passport allows the owner to travel freely both in and out of the country. Although passport recipients typically travel internationally for business or leisure, some passport recipients are using their passports to commit nefarious illegal activities outside this country. Specifically, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has documented cases of U.S. passport holders engaging in sex acts with children in foreign countries. Federal statutes authorize the Secretary of State to deny issuance of a passport in certain circumstances, such as for a conviction for international drug trafficking or arrearages in child support. GAO was asked to (1) determine, to the extent possible, the number of passport recipients who are registered sex offenders and (2) develop case study examples of passport recipients who are registered sex offenders. To do so, GAO compared fiscal year 2008 passport data from the Department of State (State) to data in DOJ's National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR). GAO also interviewed State officials. GAO selected 30 sex offenders, primarily based on geography, and performed investigations. In response to a draft of this report, DOJ had no comments. State expressed concerns about the presentation of some findings. State's comments are addressed within the report.

What GAO Found

State issued U.S. passports to thousands of registered sex offenders during fiscal year 2008. Currently, State has no statutory authority to deny passports to registered sex offenders, except those convicted of sex tourism. GAO's analysis of data provided by State and DOJ indicates that of over 16 million U.S. passports issued in 2008, about 4,500 were issued to registered sex offenders. This estimate is likely to be understated because of data limitations in the passport and NSOR databases. From analysis of the NSOR, GAO also found that about 50 of these registered sex offenders either lived outside of the United States or the offender's whereabouts were not known. GAO also found that at least 30 of these registered sex offenders were federal employees during fiscal year 2008. GAO judgmentally selected 30 sex offenders for investigation. At the time of the criminal offense, many of these offenders held positions of public trust, such as health care provider, school teacher, religious layman, law enforcement official, National Aeronautics and Space Administration engineer, and owner of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 program single-family houses. GAO's investigation also found that State issued passports to individuals who were residing in prison or delinquent in child support or whose whereabouts were unknown according to the NSOR. Finally, GAO's investigation found that one individual has illegally failed to register with the police department as a sex offender for several years.