I've been told that American's have a very low rate of passport issuance. I don't know if that's true, but the figure quoted was only 10% of adults hold passports. Is this a really effective way to get people to pay for their kids, or just the appearance of doing something to quiet the voters?

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iamthemonster 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

In 1990 it was only 5% of Americans and now it's 50%. In the UK it's 85% but a better comparison is probably France who are in the Schengen Area so only 60% have a passport.

If I lived in France I doubt I would travel outside of the Schengen Area.

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mothballed 2 hours ago | parent [-]

About half of Americans traveling to/from Mexico by land at a small crossing i noticed didn't even have them (recently). Turns out Mexico doesn't legally require a passport for entry and the US has to take back citizens who appear without one. This won't do shit to stop escaping deadbeats, just another scheme to punish parents at a threshold so low it could be a single misreported tech worker payment while doing fuck all for the kids.

And people wonder why no one is having kids. It is punishment after punishment by a society who pretends to care about kids but does fuck all to help, only to rub it in your face and punish you when you are down.

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antonvs 22 minutes ago | parent [-]

> Turns out Mexico doesn't legally require a passport for entry

This isn't true. See e.g. https://consulmex.sre.gob.mx/washington/index.php/ligavisos/... :

> "All foreigners, regardless of their nationality, are required to present a valid and not expired passport or travel document when entering Mexico (traveling by air, land or sea)."

What you may have observed is Mexican border control at a small crossing may not enforce that requirement.

	▲	mothballed 17 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I need to check the actual Mexican law. It's my understanding that they didn't actually change the law like the US did post 9/11, and legally all you need at land border is an ID and birth certificate. I see it says that the consulate says that, but it doesn't cite the law requiring it (some of the news I found around 2010 clarified it isn't actually required by Mexican law at the land border, but it's hearsay like what was posted on the consulate), and a mere statement on the website isn't legally binding (and in fact, not my experience with border control).

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hdgvhicv 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

There’s about 180m us passports, so about half the country has one, about the same percentage as France.

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ThePowerOfFuet 5 hours ago | parent [-]

How many of those are second passports for the benefit of people who wish to visit Israel without the added friction that Israeli stamps in their primary passport would bring?

Also, EU citizens do not require a passport to travel within the EU; by law, their national ID card suffices, thus making passports unnecessary for much of their travel.

	▲	gcr 3 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Most Americans don’t generally visit Israel. It’s generally very difficult to get a second passport.
	▲	Saline9515 4 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		In practice many still own passports, as they are considered as better proofs of identity when you travel.

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defrost 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

It's possible this might have a significant (not small, not necessarily large) impact on the smaller subset of delinquent parents that might currently have a larger double digit percentage (30% say) skipping to Canada, Mexico, or elsewhere to avoid being chased down.

Or not.

The main point here is that it's not the entire population of regular US citizens that should be looked at here, more the specific behaviour of the subset in question.

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rho138 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

As an american it is true that most people don’t have passports - the act of flying internationally is either out of reach economically or culturally. This does give mostly out of touch opression where the margins are the targets and the white dudes will likely get a pass, so the latter.

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Reubachi an hour ago | parent | next [-]

As an American, it is not true that most people don't have passports.

There are currently 180 million and change active issued passport to US citizens.

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egorfine 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

What does it mean "out of reach culturally"? Genuine question, I'm very curious about it.

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rho138 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

@gcr had the closest contact to the point I was alluding to. The world has been painted as this big scary place where there’s only violence and that can be identified from the type and behavior of people being sent here (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_pet-eating_hoax)

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rincebrain 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I've met a lot of people in the US who assume they cannot afford to fly anywhere, much less to another country, without having ever priced any part of it, they simply Knew from cultural osmosis they were not The Kind Of People Who Could Do That.

I am assuming that's what they meant.

	▲	rho138 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		You’re strawmanning against a point that I called out explicitly as a distinct variable that should be considered on its own totality of circumstance.

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gcr 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I’m guessing that a lot of Americans are either fearful of or indifferent to the rest of the world. My broad estimate is that maybe half of us have been outside the country.

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bawolff 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Presumably it would be very effective for some demographics and not so effective for others. 10% is still a very large group of people. People who would be affected are also probably people who can afford international travel, so the affected are probably disporportionally the group who are failing to pay despite having a bunch of spare income.

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6 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

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