Activist contends passport stall tied to anti-war efforts

[satya]

Hays produced online posters for the "Replacements Needed" project showing pictures of the war and tallies of Iraqi civilian and troop deaths.

Thomas Hays, 38, says he applied for a passport with his birth certificate, Social Security card and Washington state identification card in February. He then received a surprise in the mail at the end of the month when the government said it needed much more documentation -- some of which is difficult to quickly obtain -- to give him a passport.

The State Department says it wanted Hays to provide "school transcripts, high school yearbook pages showing your name and photograph, religious records, medical records, (and) tax/employment records."

All the records, including a full residential record and the names, addresses and phone numbers of immediate family, had to be submitted within 30 days. Hays submitted as much information as he could, but a full employment record has to be obtained through the Social Security Administration, which can take three to six weeks and cost $52.50.

Hays, who says he was "born, bred and raised in Missouri," was distressed because he is planning an accredited trip through Evergreen State College for the Group of Eight Summit in Germany in June followed by a trip to Mexico. Now his hopes of using his non-refundable $1,110.30 airline tickets could be dashed.

Hays is well known for his "Replacements Needed" posters found glued all around some of Seattle's pedestrian-heavy neighborhoods.

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[MADem]

1. He should call the ACLU. NT

[leftchick]

2. these are some excellent posters

I can see why the US government has targeted him. He is speaking the truth ....

http://replacementsneeded.tripod.com/

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Contact the ACLU

you only need to proove citizenship... most of those records are bs anyhow

[Eurobabe]

4. Yet another Govt. agency that the BushBOTS have infiltrated

Uh that would be Dept. of State, right? Wonder when they had their lunchtime power point presentation with Scott Jennings? :sarcasm:

[HuffleClaw]

5. religious records???? WTF ??? high school yearbook photos ???

ok, that is just plain criminal harrassment

[Solo_in_MD]

6. Hmmm, sounds odd to me

We went through the passport process with several family members, no such issues. However, its intdeterminate if the problem is with him or the State.