Passport News Roundup: Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae/Eat My Passport)

Welcome to the March 2017 edition of our Passport News Roundup! We have some wild stories to cover this month. We'll look at everything from passport lines to passport seizures... with a passport snack in between! This month's passport news features baseball stars, rappers, and the President of the United States.

Come with us as we review the hottest passport news stories from all across the United States and beyond.

 

Watch Me (Stand in Line for a Passport)

Back in November, we wrote an article asking if Trump's election would cause a passport rush. Less than four months later, it looks like we have a clear answer, and that answer is yes! Media outlets around the country are reporting on crowds of people jamming passport acceptance facilities seeking to get US passports.

The State Department had already expected a higher than normal number of passport applications in 2017, but last month's well-publicized immigration raids have prompted a new surge of applications.

In Travis County, Texas, the local Passport Acceptance Facility says that applicants are starting to line up at 5 A.M. every morning, three hours before the facility opens at 8 o'clock. Many of the people in line are families of undocumented parents seeking to get passports for their US-born children. A report from CBS News in Sacramento, California featured a mother who expressed the fears of many immigrant parents. She was seeking a US passport for her 11 year old son, not just to allow him to stay in the US, but to give him the freedom to travel if she is deported. More than anything, she feared being separated from her son. If he does not have a valid passport, he would not be able to travel with her back to her home country if she is deported.

It's not just US passports that are being sought - consulates of countries like Mexico and El Salvador report that they also are seeing an increase in passport applications. Families of undocumented immigrants are seeking passports from their native countries to make sure they can all travel together if one member is deported.

Passport News Roundup: Celebrity Edition!

This month's roundup includes several American celebrities making passport news around the world! We've got more than just celebrity news, though. We'll also review the latest news about gender representation on US passports, and ponder the question of whether a passport-issuing computer can be racist

Rapper Mos Def Leaves South African Home Over Passport Issues

 

Hip-hop star Mos Def, who now goes by the name Yasiin Smith Bey, has been living in South Africa since 2013. His passport issues first hit the news in January, when he was arrested at Cape Town International Airport. Bey had attempted to board a flight to Ethiopia using a "World Passport" issued by the World Security Authority. Although he is a US citizen and holds a US passport, he chose not to use his US passport for political reasons.

The World Passport was created by the World Government of World Citizens. This organization, headquartered in Washington, DC, wishes to offer people an alternative to claiming citizenship of any specific nation. They claim that by holding their World Passport, the bearer is entitled to all rights detailed in the United Nation's 1948 Declaration of Human Rights. The World Passport was originally meant for refugees unable to receive a passport from their home country or country of residence. More than a million people now hold World Passports, both refugees and people like Yasiin Bey who choose not to associate with their country of citizenship.

Bey was arrested at the airport for attempting to use his World Passport to leave the country. He'd most recently entered South Africa using his US passport, and should have used the same passport to depart. He was charged with misrepresenting himself, having a false identity, and presenting documentation that was not issued by a legal authority. In the ten months since his arrest, Bey has been prevented from leaving South Africa.  He was finally allowed to depart South Africa -- using his US passport -- on November 22.

The South African government has dropped the charges against him, but have officially labeled Bey an "undesirable person."  He is no longer allowed to enter South Africa without a visa.

Actor Steven Seagal Gets Russian Passport From Putin

 

A US passport wasn't enough for actor Steven Seagal, either.  On November 25, the action film star accepted a Russian passport directly from the hands of Vladimir Putin! 

Seagal, who is most famous for his roles in '90s action films like Under Siege, has been a frequent visitor to Russia.  He's been vocal in his admiration of Vladimir Putin, calling him one of the world's great leaders. He accepted the Russian passport from Putin in a ceremony at the Kremlin, bowing and then formally signing his new Russian passport. 

According to Seagal, he has no intention of denouncing his US citizenship, but will just hold dual citizenship with Russia. Putin has announced that offering Seagal citizenship was a signal of goodwill towards the United States, and that he wants it to be a step towards normalizing relations.

No Toilet, No Passport and Other Passport News From Around the World

At Passportinfo.com, our main focus is United States passports, but we also keep an eye on passport news from around the world! Today, we’ll look at some of the top passport-related news stories from India, France, Great Britain, and Switzerland.

India: You Can’t Have a Passport if You Don’t Have a Toilet

In rural India, many people do not have toilets in their home, and the national government has undertaken a major public health campaign about it. As the Hindustan Times reports, one local government has gone so far as to block people without toilets from obtaining passports!

Indian passport applicants are required to obtain a "No Objection Certificate" (NOC) from local police. The NOC is essentially a certification of good conduct, and is required for many official purposes, including getting a commercial driver’s license, gun permit, or passport. The superintendent of police in Katni District, in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has declared that his police department will now only issue No Objection Certificates to applicants who can produce proof that their home has a toilet. Applicants will have to ask local authorities known as "gram panchayats" to certify that not only do they have a toilet, but that they use it! The superintendent of police further states that even policemen from his own department will have to comply with the toilet requirement. It’s reported that more than 50% of households in Madhya Pradesh state do not have toilets, but subsidies are available under the national cleanliness program to help people build them.

France: You Can’t Have a Passport if You Smile

In France, you won’t be asked about the status of your toilette when you apply for a passport. But don’t get too happy about that – your passport application will be rejected if you smile in your passport photo!

A French civil servant known only as "Thierry" filed suit to challenge this rule two years ago after his passport application was rejected. According to rules laid down in 2009, French passport applicants need to have a neutral expression with closed lips, but French passport authorities have interpreted that to mean that the applicant may not smile at all. Even a faint "Mona Lisa smile" or, as the New York Times called it, "undertaker’s smile," is cause for rejection. In 2014, a lower court denied Thierry’s case and upheld the ban on smiling. Thierry was undeterred, and felt that it was a matter of national morale to be allowed to smile in a passport photo. He pressed the case, but in early October, an appellate court agreed with the lower court’s decision. French travelers still may not smile at all in their passport photos!