Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280, HAIG v. AGEE, 453 U.S. 280 (1981)

"[A passport] is a document, which, from its nature and object, is addressed to foreign powers; purporting only to be a request, that the bearer of it may pass safely and freely; and is to be considered rather in the character of a political document, by which the bearer is recognised, in foreign countries, as an American citizen; and [453 U.S. 280, 293]   which, by usage and the law of nations, is received as evidence of the fact." Urtetiqui v. D'Arcy, 9 Pet. 692, 698 (1835).

 The first Passport Act, adopted in 1856, provided that the Secretary of State "shall be authorized to grant and issue passports . . . under such rules as the President shall designate and prescribe for and on behalf of the United States . . . ." 23, 11 Stat. 60. 26 This broad and permissive language worked no change in the power of the Executive to issue passports; nor was it intended to do so. The Act was passed to centralize passport authority in the Federal Government 27 and specifically in the Secretary of State. 28 In all other respects, the 1856 Act

"merely confirmed an authority already possessed and [453 U.S. 280, 295]   exercised by the Secretary of State. This authority was ancillary to his broader authority to protect American citizens in foreign countries and was necessarily incident to his general authority to conduct the foreign affairs of the United States under the Chief Executive." Senate Committee on Government Operations, Reorganization of the Passport Functions of the Department of State, 86th Cong., 2d Sess., 13 (Comm. Print 1960).

[Haig v. Agee, 453 U.S. 280, HAIG v. AGEE, 453 U.S. 280 (1981)]