DHS Reports Huge Number of Visitors Overstayed in 2015
Article subtitle:
Only 3% of ICE enforcement resources are dedicated to addressing overstays
Article publisher:
Center for Immigration Studies
Article date:
20 January 2016
Article category:
National News
Medium
Article Body:
A long-awaited report from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), confirming that overstays are a significant source of illegal immigration, has been published just in time to provide clarity on the issue for a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing today. The Center for Immigration Studies analysis of the DHS report concludes that additional resources must be directed toward deterring and removing overstays.
Jessica Vaughan, the Center's Director of Policy Studies, says, "Lawmakers and the public should be tremendously concerned that DHS identified more than more than 400,000 foreign visitors who did not depart in 2015 as required and who apparently have joined the huge population of illegal aliens in the United States. More than 12,000 came from countries associated with terrorism. Clearly, our immigration controls are not sufficient to protect Americans. These scofflaws are encouraged by the Obama administration's appalling neglect of interior enforcement and overly generous visa policies."
The report identified just over 527,000 foreign visitors who apparently did not depart as required when their authorized stay expired in 2015. Approximately 484,000 were presumed to be still in the United States at the end of 2015, and 416,500 had not departed as of January 4, 2016.
Of these overstaying visitors, 43 percent had entered on a business or tourist visa, 29 percent had entered under the controversial Visa Waiver Program (VWP), and 28 percent had entered by air or sea from Canada or Mexico.
DHS did not examine the records of visitors who entered by land, which is more than three-quarters of all admissions to the United States. Nor did it track the records of visitors granted visas for purposes other than business or pleasure, such as students, guest workers, or exchange visitors. These categories represent a smaller share of all annual arrivals, but still account for several million admissions per year. Some of these categories have been found to have significant overstay and status violation rates in the past, and have been exploited by terrorists.
Despite a total estimated population of 4 to 5.5 million overstays in the United States, only about 8,000 are removed annually.
DHS has long sought to suppress this overstay information. It was released now only because the omnibus spending bill passed in December included a provision withholding $13 million from the DHS Secretary's office if the report was not released to Congress by January 19. Without that threat we would not have this information today.
Related article
Bombshell Report: More than Half a Million Migrants Overstayed Visas In 2015, Breitbart, January 20, 2016:
...The “Entry/Exit Overstay Report,” prepared by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), documents that in 2015 alone, more than half a million people, who had entered the country on a B-1 or B-2 visa, had illegally overstayed their visas and are believed to be unlawfully residing within the United States. The B-1 and B-2 visas are for business workers and tourists, respectively. The report also includes those who entered on the “Visa Waiver Program,” which is another avenue for business workers and tourists to enter the United States on an allegedly temporary basis.
This report does not even begin to address the numerous other forms of visas used by foreign migrants to gain entry into the country– such as the H and L guest worker visas, the F student visa, and the J-1 foreign exchange visa. Similarly, it only accounts for migrants who entered by air and sea ports of entry. Because the report does not take into account migrants who entered through “land” ports, Latin Americans are likely under-represented...
Interestingly, the Suspected In-Country Overstay rates for many non-Western countries– some of which have sizable Muslim populations– were substantially higher than the overall Suspected In-Country Overstay rate (1.07 percent). For instance, Afghanistan’s suspected in-country overstay rate was 10.25 percent, Bhutan’s was 23.98 percent, Burkina Faso’s was 17.37 percent, Chad’s was 15.36 percent, and Djibouti’s was 26.80 percent.
According to the report, 1,435 migrants from Pakistan overstayed their visas and are believed to be in the country today, as well as 1,257 from Kuwait, 681 migrants from Iraq, 564 migrants from Iran, 219 migrants from Afghanistan, 447 from Kazakhstan, 440 migrants from Syria, 219 migrants from Yemen, and 56 migrants from Libya.
According to Pew, “Nearly all Muslims in Afghanistan (99%) and most in Iraq (91%) and Pakistan (84%) support sharia law as official law.”...
CAIRCO Research