I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2812 

To establish certain standards for the adjudication of United States passport 

applications, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 10, 2009 

Mr. ORTIZ (for himself, Mr. HINOJOSA, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. REYES, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, and Mr. RODRIGUEZ) introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To establish certain standards for the adjudication of United 

States passport applications, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere 

5 Travel Initiative Improvement Act of 2009’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS; DEFINITION. 

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) All claims of United States citizenship and 

9 nationality must be treated with the utmost respect 

10 and care, with adherence to procedures necessary 


tjames on PRODPC75 with BILLS
2 

•HR 2812 IH

1 and sufficient to guard against the serious risk of 

2 United States citizens and nationals being deprived 

3 of the rights, privileges, and benefits attendant to 

4 such citizenship and nationality or the denial of valid 

5 claims thereto. 

6 (2) The right to travel abroad and return home 

7 is an important and protected element of United 

8 States citizenship. This right should not be denied 

9 on the basis of race or ancestry or for reasons that 

10 are arbitrary and capricious. 

11 (3) Millions of United States citizens live in 

12 United States border communities and regularly 

13 cross the border for family, work, business, and per14 sonal reasons. With the Western Hemisphere Travel 

15 Initiative (WHTI) scheduled to be fully implemented 

16 on June 1, 2009, virtually all United States citizens 

17 will be required to possess a passport, passport card, 

18 or other WHTI-compliant document to cross the 

19 land borders of the United States or enter through 

20 sea ports of entry. At that time, a passport—already 

21 required for international travel by air—will become 

22 a fundamental necessity of everyday life for those 

23 United States citizens who live along or near United 

24 States land borders. 


tjames on PRODPC75 with BILLS
3 

•HR 2812 IH

1 (4) In recent years, certain United States citi2 zens living or born in States bordering Mexico have 

3 been formally or effectively denied United States 

4 passports as a result of a process that often lacks 

5 due process, imposes a heightened burden of proof 

6 on certain passport applicants, and results in deci7 sions that are inadequately supported by an evi8 dentiary record. 

9 (b) DEFINITIONS.— 

10 (1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 

11 a person who submits a United States passport ap12 plication. 

13 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

14 the Secretary of State and any individual designated 

15 by the Secretary of State to adjudicate United 

16 States passport applications under an Act to regu17 late the issue and validity of passports, and for other 

18 purposes (July 3, 1926; 22 U.S.C. 211a). 

19 SEC. 3. CONFIRMATION AND CLARIFICATION OF STAND20 ARDS FOR ADJUDICATION OF UNITED 

21 STATES PASSPORT APPLICATIONS BY SEC22 RETARY OF STATE. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.— 


tjames on PRODPC75 with BILLS
4 

•HR 2812 IH

1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall adju2 dicate United States passport applications in an in3 dividualized, evidence-based manner. 

4 (2) INDIVIDUALIZED ASSESSMENT.—At every 

5 stage of the passport application adjudicatory proc6 ess under paragraph (1), including any requests for 

7 additional evidence and rulings on the merits of an 

8 application, the Secretary’s decisions respecting 

9 United States passport applications shall be based 

10 on an assessment of individual circumstances and 

11 evidence. 

12 (3) PROHIBITION.—An applicant’s race, eth13 nicity, or ancestry may not be a factor taken into ac14 count in the passport application adjudicatory proc15 ess under paragraph (1). 

16 (b) PROCEEDINGS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—An applicant shall establish 

18 by a preponderance of the evidence at all stages of 

19 the passport application adjudicatory process, in20 cluding in proceedings under section 360 of the Im21 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1503), that 

22 such applicant is a United States citizen or national. 

23 (2) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary shall not uti24 lize or apply any heightened burden of proof when 

25 evaluating the citizenship or nationality of an appliVerDate Nov 24 2008 06:03 Jun 11, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2812.IH H2812

tjames on PRODPC75 with BILLS
5 

•HR 2812 IH

1 cant and shall apply such preponderance of the evi2 dence standard required under paragraph (1) in a 

3 uniform and consistent manner to all passport appli4 cations. 

5 (3) WRITING.—Any determination by the Sec6 retary that an applicant has not met the burden of 

7 proving United States citizenship or nationality by a 

8 preponderance of the evidence shall be made in writ9 ing, state the reasons for the Secretary’s determina10 tion, and be provided to the applicant in a timely 

11 manner. 

12 (c) ACCEPTANCE OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE.—A birth 

13 certificate signed by a midwife, doctor, or other person au14 thorized under State law to sign such a document, or a 

15 previously-issued United States passport, shall constitute 

16 prima facie evidence of United States citizenship or na17 tionality and, absent individualized evidence that a birth 

18 did not take place in the United States, shall satisfy the 

19 preponderance of the evidence standard for demonstrating 

20 an applicant’s United States citizenship or nationality. 

Æ 


tjames on PRODPC75 with BILLS