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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Western Hemisphere 
Travel Initiative Improvement Act of 2009’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS; DEFINITION. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) All claims of United States citizenship and 
nationality must be treated with the utmost respect 
and care, with adherence to procedures necessary 
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and sufficient to guard against the serious risk of 
United States citizens and nationals being deprived 
of the rights, privileges, and benefits attendant to 
such citizenship and nationality or the denial of valid 
claims thereto. 
(2) The right to travel abroad and return home 
is an important and protected element of United 
States citizenship. This right should not be denied 
on the basis of race or ancestry or for reasons that 
are arbitrary and capricious. 
(3) Millions of United States citizens live in 
United States border communities and regularly 
cross the border for family, work, business, and per-
sonal reasons. With the Western Hemisphere Travel 
Initiative (WHTI) scheduled to be fully implemented 
on June 1, 2009, virtually all United States citizens 
will be required to possess a passport, passport card, 
or other WHTI-compliant document to cross the 
land borders of the United States or enter through 
sea ports of entry. At that time, a passport—already 
required for international travel by air—will become 
a fundamental necessity of everyday life for those 
United States citizens who live along or near United 
States land borders. 
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(4) In recent years, certain United States citi-
zens living or born in States bordering Mexico have 
been formally or effectively denied United States 
passports as a result of a process that often lacks 
due process, imposes a heightened burden of proof 
on certain passport applicants, and results in deci-
sions that are inadequately supported by an evi-
dentiary record. 
(b) DEFINITIONS.— 
(1) APPLICANT.—The term ‘‘applicant’’ means 
a person who submits a United States passport ap-
plication. 
(2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of State and any individual designated 
by the Secretary of State to adjudicate United 
States passport applications under an Act to regu-
late the issue and validity of passports, and for other 
purposes (July 3, 1926; 22 U.S.C. 211a). 
SEC. 3. CONFIRMATION AND CLARIFICATION OF STAND-
ARDS 
FOR 
ADJUDICATION 
OF 
UNITED 
STATES PASSPORT APPLICATIONS BY SEC-
RETARY OF STATE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.— 
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(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall adju-
dicate United States passport applications in an in-
dividualized, evidence-based manner. 
(2) INDIVIDUALIZED
ASSESSMENT.—At every 
stage of the passport application adjudicatory proc-
ess under paragraph (1), including any requests for 
additional evidence and rulings on the merits of an 
application, the Secretary’s decisions respecting 
United States passport applications shall be based 
on an assessment of individual circumstances and 
evidence. 
(3) PROHIBITION.—An applicant’s race, eth-
nicity, or ancestry may not be a factor taken into ac-
count in the passport application adjudicatory proc-
ess under paragraph (1). 
(b) PROCEEDINGS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—An applicant shall establish 
by a preponderance of the evidence at all stages of 
the passport application adjudicatory process, in-
cluding in proceedings under section 360 of the Im-
migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1503), that 
such applicant is a United States citizen or national. 
(2) PROHIBITION.—The Secretary shall not uti-
lize or apply any heightened burden of proof when 
evaluating the citizenship or nationality of an appli-
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cant and shall apply such preponderance of the evi-
dence standard required under paragraph (1) in a 
uniform and consistent manner to all passport appli-
cations. 
(3) WRITING.—Any determination by the Sec-
retary that an applicant has not met the burden of 
proving United States citizenship or nationality by a 
preponderance of the evidence shall be made in writ-
ing, state the reasons for the Secretary’s determina-
tion, and be provided to the applicant in a timely 
manner. 
(c) ACCEPTANCE OF CERTAIN EVIDENCE.—A birth 
certificate signed by a midwife, doctor, or other person au-
thorized under State law to sign such a document, or a 
previously-issued United States passport, shall constitute 
prima facie evidence of United States citizenship or na-
tionality and, absent individualized evidence that a birth 
did not take place in the United States, shall satisfy the 
preponderance of the evidence standard for demonstrating 
an applicant’s United States citizenship or nationality. 
Æ 
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