Right now, you’re able to select the appropriate gender marker on your passport without a note from a medical professional (and a passport can be used in the vast majority of situations you’d use a birth certificate) but because the self select gender marker was done by executive action, it’s extremely likely to be reversed when Trump takes office.
Also, having one might be a good idea in general.
Another tip: A passport card is considered as valid as a passport book within the US, but it is much cheaper to obtain. It is conclusive proof of citizenship and an authoritative RealID-compliant identity card, just like a passport book. Passport cards are valid for land and sea travel within North America and the Caribbean. They’re not valid for international air travel (but they can be used for domestic flights).
Edit: Upgrading from a passport card to a passport book is considered a renewal rather than a new application. You can still keep the card if you later want to “renew” it for a book.
This sounds like exactly the type of thing they’ll reverse, either through executive action or pushing through the GOP Congress and Supreme Court. If you can afford it, go for the full US passport.
Honestly, I doubt they’d mess with the cards. They’re extremely common and useful for people who live in border states - Minnesota encourages them at our DMVs, and if you know about the northwest angle it’s likely a big part of why.
What incentive would they have to tamper with passport cards? They’re pretty popular in the border regions as an inexpensive way to get an international travel document.
They are also mentioned in several international treaties, particularly with Canada and Mexico. The president doesn’t have the power to unilaterally abrogate those treaties.
What incentive would they have to tamper with passport cards? They’re pretty popular in the border regions as an inexpensive way to get an international travel document.
The cruelty is the point. If the fascists see people using those to flee they might get it in their head to restrict access to them or refuse to recognize them as valid. I’m not saying people shouldn’t take advantage of them now, but if people can get the full passport book it might be better anyway. Canada has their own far-right that is on the verge of taking over. And Trump has threatened to fire missiles at Mexico.
They are also mentioned in several international treaties, particularly with Canada and Mexico. The president doesn’t have the power to unilaterally abrogate those treaties.
Trump has threatened to be a dictator on day one and is planning to staff the government with loyalists who will do what he says. There’s a chance he won’t respect treaties while in office and instruct border patrol to deny people with those cards access to border crossings. What are Canada and Mexico going to do about it?
The Nazis are known for not respecting documents so they could kill people.
There was also confusion caused by a few cases that, by chance, came to light first. In these cases, police acted less violently. For example, there is a well-known case from Berlin where police renewed a trans man’s “transvestite certificate” after he spent some months in a concentration camp. Historians initially took this case to be representative. Now that we have a lot more cases, we can see that it is an outlier. Police normally revoked the certificates.
Again, it’s fine to take advantage of this now. And people should definitely be told about this, because for some people it might be their only feasible option. There’s a reason people are worried, that’s all. edit: typos
There is currently no exit border control in the US and the border with Canada is thousands of kilometres long, most of it unpatrolled. There are lots of tiny towns which are split in twain by the border. It is just not feasible from a manpower perspective to guard the entire border like the Iron Curtain.
Even if Trump says he’s unilaterally abrogating the treaty on the validity of passport cards with Canada, who gives a shit when you need to flee because it’s only a question of whether Canadian authorities will recognise the validity of a passport card.
Home countries cancelling refugees’ travel documents has never been a successful strategy to prevent them from going to other countries. Other countries know what physical attributes an otherwise-valid travel document would have and it’s not like they can physically take the card away from everyone.
That assumes Canada will be safe after their 2025 election. For now Canada is probably going to be a safer place to be than the US once the fascists take power here. The issue is then being stuck in Canada if you don’t have a passport book in the event the far-right takes over there as well.
We are seeing the global rise of fascism right now, so the places that are safe will probably continue to dwindle. People should do what they feel they need to be safe. But its important to point out that the problem is not as simple as getting out of the United States. If a person finds they are in a position where they can only get this card and move to Canada they should totally do it if that’s how they can be safe. Don’t let me or anyone else stop you.
The passport card is valid for sea travel as well.
To the Caribbean right?
https://cdn.statcdn.com/Infographic/images/normal/25159.jpeg
So that would leave Cuba. Better than nothing.
Let them reverse it then. That is no reason to not get one now.
I’m rushing to get my name legally changed so my updated passport can be correct. My current one has 5 more years, but so it’s all my amab info. I’m terrified of how little time is left.
Wish I was privileged enough too :'(
Get a passport card. It is legally the same as a passport book within the US (it can also be used for international land and sea travel within North America). It’s only $30 to apply and a $35 issuance fee. $65 in total for a piece of RealID-compliant identification valid worldwide for ten years.
is the issue money, or time, or both?
Being disabled it is those things and a lot of other things too, to long to list.
Well, I hope things get better. I can suggest all the obvious things: find a local mutual aid group to raise the $200 for the passport fee, I think right now a lot of liberals would love to support a trans person in need. Maybe you have friends or family who would be willing to help, but even if not there might be a local trans community you could try to connect with and they might be able to help or know people able to help.
Either way, I understand if the challenges are too great - some things can remain perpetually out of reach.
Are they likely to reverse changes once they are made? Say I get my passport application/order in before he takes office. Is it still likely to go through?
IIRC it’s a lot harder (legally and practically, because figuring out which applicants are transgender requires sifting through paperwork) for them to invalidate passports that have already been issued. I got my first passport before the first Trump term with my correct name and gender on it and had no issues, but all the paperwork went through during the last days of the Obama admin. I do remember hearing about people having trouble getting the right passport after he came into office. So if you want it and can afford to pay to rush it, it’s not a bad idea.
Edit: I would say that probably the people most in danger of having their passports invalidated soon after he takes office are people with X for their gender marker. That would be much more simple than invalidating every trans person’s passport that has an M or F on it.
That’s good to know. I’m definitely gonna rush to get all of my docs changed after I get my certificate of name change in the mail. Unfortunately can’t get my birth certificate changed because of the state I was born in.
