4 ms·

I like how Holder says "Despite the revocation of his passport... Snowden remains a citizen" Holder revoked his passport without trial and yet the U.S. still co

• rdouble 13y ago
  Not having a valid passport does not affect citizenship status.
  • moens 13y ago
    Except in every practical way... ergo, the common misunderstanding.
    • rdouble 13y ago
      Not really. Most Americans don't have a passport and it doesn't affect them at all.
      • joekrill 13y ago
        I can't imagine there are very many Americans that are _not in the US_ that don't have a passport and it doesn't affect them at all.
        • rdouble 13y ago
          Unless you're in transit between countries, it doesn't affect you as much as you might think. I lived in Japan for a year and pretty much only used my passport when I entered and left the country. Same goes with my sisters who moved overseas. They take out their US passport about once every 4 years, when they come back to the USA to visit.
        • malandrew 13y ago
          In Russia, it's actually super important since foreigners need to register at the local police station with their passport in any town/city where they state more than a few days. Not registering within the allotted time period, based on dates of transportation tickets like a train ticket or flight stub, makes you the target of police extortion. Russia is definitely one of those "Ihre papiere bitte" countries.
• irishcoffee 13y ago
  The absurd amount of misinformation surrounding this story is the reason people like you say things like that. It is rampant on HN, don't feel bad.
  • dev1n 13y ago
    Revocations DOS revokes passports that were: - obtained illegally or through fraud - Altered or misused - Issued to individuals whose Certificate of Citizenship or Certificate of Naturalization was canceled How is this misinformation?
    • rdouble 13y ago
      That link doesn't give all the information about why passports can be revoked. They can also be revoked by court order, if there's an arrest warrant or extradition request. A federal, state or local law enforcement agency may request the denial or revocation of a passport on several regulatory grounds set forth in 22 C.F.R. §§ 51.60, 51.61, and 51.62. The principal law enforcement reasons for passport denial or revocation are an unsealed federal, state, or local felony arrest warrant, a federal or state criminal court order or a condition of parole or probation forbidding departure from the United States (or the jurisdiction of the court), or a request for extradition to or from the United States. Any such request needs to include a copy of the arrest warrant or criminal court order. Please also be advised that all passport applicants are run through various law enforcement and other databases.
      • dev1n 13y ago
        Thanks to you and arbuge I understand this now. irishcoffee added no alternative explanation as to how my comment's source was misinformation. I figured I should give irishcoffee a chance to explain his/her reason for calling it misinformation when the title of the site itself was called answers.usa.gov.
• arbuge 13y ago
  Passports are not the same as citizenship. Many Americans are full citizens and never bothered to apply for a passport in their lives. You were probably passportless until you applied for a passport. It is really hard for the US government to take away citizenship - generally that only happens to naturalized persons who blatantly lied on their citizenship application. For example, Nazi concentration camp guards in WW2 who hid the role they played there.
  • toomuchtodo 13y ago
    Taking away your ability to freely move outside your country of citizenship (i.e. your passport) should be just as hard to revoke as your citizenship. The Supreme Court has upheld the freedom to move state to state [1]; the freedom to move through other countries outside of the US (if you're a US citizen) is an inalienable right as well (with the permission of the hosting countries of course). [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Guest http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Guest
    • arbuge 13y ago
      Passport revocation is pretty routine for suspects facing serious charges though: http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/info/info_870.html http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppi/info/info_870.html A federal, state or local law enforcement agency may request the denial or revocation of a passport on several regulatory grounds set forth in 22 C.F.R. §§ 51.60, 51.61, and 51.62. The principal law enforcement reasons for passport denial or revocation are an unsealed federal, state, or local felony arrest warrant, a federal or state criminal court order or a condition of parole or probation forbidding departure from the United States (or the jurisdiction of the court), or a request for extradition to or from the United States. Any such request needs to include a copy of the arrest warrant or criminal court order. Please also be advised that all passport applicants are run through various law enforcement and other databases.
      • dev1n 13y ago
        Thank you for the information. What you have explained is not as clearly stated in the three bullets in the reasons for passport revocations on the site I linked to.
• anovikov 13y ago
  Approximately half of adult Americans don't have a passport. This is because you never need it unless you need to travel internationally.
• fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
  A passport is not a necessary document or even relatively important to most US citizens. I usually get funny looks when I use mine in country as an ID, and have twice been told (in error) that it was not valid as a form of ID.
  • malandrew 13y ago
    For example, IIRC US national IDs (passport and green card) are not a form of valid ID for the sake of notarization services in the State of California. However the IDs issued by other states are.