Papers. Hand over your papers.

They must be all in order:

A local activist thinks the federal government is trying to prevent him from leaving the U.S. because of his anti-war efforts that included displaying pictures of Iraq war victims.

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.

(Via cookie jill at skippy the bush kangaroo)

Update: Another story, same wonderful bureaucracy:

"On 1 March 07, I was scheduled to fly on American Airlines to Newark, NJ, to attend an academic conference at Princeton University, designed to focus on my latest scholarly book, Constitutional Democracy, published by Johns Hopkins University Press this past Thanksgiving."

"When I tried to use the curb-side check in at the Sunport, I was denied a boarding pass because I was on the Terrorist Watch list. I was instructed to go inside and talk to a clerk. At this point, I should note that I am not only the McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence (emeritus) but also a retired Marine colonel. I fought in the Korean War as a young lieutenant, was wounded, and decorated for heroism. I remained a professional soldier for more than five years and then accepted a commission as a reserve office, serving for an additional 19 years."

"I presented my credentials from the Marine Corps to a very polite clerk for American Airlines. One of the two people to whom I talked asked a question and offered a frightening comment: "Have you been in any peace marches? We ban a lot of people from flying because of that." I explained that I had not so marched but had, in September, 2006, given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution. "That'll do it," the man said. "