Nonprofit libraries ordered by State Department to stop processing passport applications

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: PBS News/AP

Feb 13, 2026 7:51 PM EST


NORWICH, Conn. (AP) — The U.S. State Department has ordered certain public libraries nationwide to cease processing passport applications, disrupting a long-standing service that librarians say their communities have come to rely on and that has run smoothly for years. The agency, which regulates U.S. passports, began issuing cease and desist orders to not-for-profit libraries in late fall, informing them they were no longer authorized to participate in the Passport Acceptance Facility program as of Friday.

"We still get calls daily seeking that service," said Cathleen Special, executive director of the Otis Library in Norwich, Connecticut, where passport services were offered for 18 years but ceased in November after receiving the letter. "Our community was so used to us offering this." A State Department spokesperson said the order was given because federal law and regulations "clearly prohibit non-governmental organizations" from collecting and retaining fees for a passport application. Government-run libraries are not impacted.

The spokesperson did not respond to questions as to why it has become an issue now and exactly how many libraries are impacted by the cease and desist order. In a statement, they said, "passport services has over 7,500 acceptance facilities nationwide and the number of libraries found ineligible makes up less than one percent of our total network." The American Library Association estimates about 1,400 mostly non-profit public libraries nationwide could potentially be affected, or about 15% of all public libraries, depending on how many offer passport services.

Democratic and Republican members of Congress from Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Maryland are pushing back, sending a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio this month asking him to extend the existing program until Congress finds a permanent solution. "In a time when demand for passports is surging, libraries are among the most accessible passport acceptance facilities, particularly for working families and rural residents," the members wrote.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/nonprofit-libraries-ordered-by-state-department-to-stop-processing-passport-applications

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Link to Sen. Murphy PRESS RELEASE - Murphy, Blumenthal, Bicameral Colleagues Urge Extension Of Library Passport Acceptance Program

Link to LETTER (inquiry) (PDF) - https://www.fetterman.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Letter-to-Sec.-Rubio-RE-Passports-at-Libraries.pdf

[liberalgunwilltravel]

1. Let me guess

All the effected libraries are in Democratic-leaning districts.

[Lonestarblue]

2. Probably. I heard an NPR program about Haitian immigrants being helped to get passports for their children.

The program was about those in Springfield, Ohio, but I imagine it's happening elsewhere. With passports, the children have a way back into the country of their birth if they are deported along with their parents. I don't know whether any of the libraries being disallowed passport applications has processed passport applications, but our government certainly does not want the children of migrants born here to have any rights in this country even though they are citizens.

[mopinko]

3. at the same time they're trying to make u show a passport to vote.

things that DONT make me go hmmm.