Feds urged to authorize Guam to issue passports: 'It's about life and death'

By Pacific Island Times News Staff

Sen. Jesse A. Lujan is seeking the reinstatement of the local government's authority to issue U.S. passports to Guam residents, noting the urgency of streamlining the process, particularly in an emergency.

"This is not about convenience; this is about life and death," Lujan said.

While Guam residents may file their passport application or renewal online or through the Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation's passport office, the physical passports are issued by the Department of State.

Jesse Lujan

“Our people are being forced to wait weeks for a passport they need just to leave island for emergency care," Lujan said. "By the time that passport arrives, it’s already too late for some families. That should never happen to any individual, let alone a U.S. citizen residing on U.S. soil."

He noted that the federal law authorizes the Secretary of State to delegate the passport issuance task to "the chief or other executive officer of the insular possessions of the United States."

Lujan said authorizing Guam to issue U.S. passports would require personnel training and funding.

He recalled that the late former Gov. Ricky Bordallo was authorized to issue U.S. passports.

“I am not asking for special treatment. I am demanding equal treatment,” Lujan said in a letter sent to the Bureau of Consular Affairs. “No one should lose a parent, a child, or a spouse because of paperwork delays. That is the reality we are living with and it is unacceptable.”

Lujan said the "long-ignored" passport challenge hits Guamanians hard, given the island's health care limitations that compel residents to seek treatments offshore.

“Our people have died waiting,” Lujan said. "In many cases, they cannot survive the 8-hour flight to Hawai‘i. Access to life-saving care could be as short as a 4-5 hour flight to Manila, Japan, Korea or Taiwan; but even with being only a flight away, without a passport, our people are dying waiting for permission to leave."

Now that the federal government's Real ID mandate is in full effect for domestic travel, Lujan said, "it is time to acknowledge that not all federal policies work the same across the board.

"Guam’s geographic reality demands a different level of consideration. While Real ID access has been prioritized across the states, that same urgency must now be applied to passport issuance for Guam," Lujan added.

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