Removals of visa overstayers have plummeted under the Obama administration according to a House Republican who raised the issue with Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials at a congressional hearing last week.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), relying on data obtained by the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, said the Obama administration removed approximately 12,500 visa overstayers in 2009. Last year, that number dropped down to less than 2,500 – a decrease of 80 percent.
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The Texas Republican estimated that removals of visa overstayers last year represented only one-twentieth of one percent of the estimated five million people who overstayed their visas and remain in the country illegally.
“We’ve heard estimates as to the percentage of people who are here illegally as being visa overstayers,” Smith said. “The percentages range from 40 percent to 68 percent. Let’s take 50 percent. Let’s take 10 million people in the country illegally, half are here because of visa overstayers and are in illegal status.”
He continued, “You’ve got five million people now in illegal status because they’re visa overstayers. The administration [removed]2,500 of those. That’s one-twentieth of one percent. That sounds to me like an extension of the administration’s amnesty program.”
“We utilize our prioritization scheme along with the resources that we have,” Craig Healy, Assistant Director for National Security Investigations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said as he attempted to defend the administration’s non-enforcement agenda.
However, Smith was not satisfied by Healy’s explanation, pointing out that if the administration wanted to enforce the law against those who overstay their visas, then they would have asked for more money in their budget requests.
“I understand that, but the administration stands convicted by their own actions by the facts, why haven’t they requested more money in their budget if they wanted to send more individuals home?” he asked, “They have not requested the money sufficiently to do so.”
The administration’s unwillingness to enforce the law by allowing visa overstayers to remain in the country illegally has alarmed the American people. A poll released earlier this year indicates that approximately 3 out of 4 Americans want to remove those who overstay their visas. The same poll indicates that 68 percent of Americans consider visa overstayers a “serious national security risk.” These concerns are not unfounded, as several 9/11 hijackers overstayed their visas and terror groups around the world have recently threatened to exploit the U.S. visa program to harm Americans.
When immigration changes are proposed within the context of national security, the debate usually revolves around the issue of border control. However, gaining control over our borders deals with only part of the illegal immigration problem because it obscures the issue of the overstayers. Both Congress and the federal government must recognize that visa overstayers pose considerable national security risks and move swiftly to ensure implementation of the entry-exit tracking system that was mandated by Congress nearly twenty years ago. Until then, the administration should abandon its narrow removal priorities that exclude nearly all visa overstayers from any type of enforcement.
21 Comments
RJ if you want to report smart articles you must back up the one about against all prior presidents besides It is not the job of a president to remove overstays……blame the accountable parties..is this responsible media?
Mom let you near the computer again?
no your mom let me out…you asked for it.
My mom wouldn’t have anything to do with you. She doesn’t like trolls.
RJ the point is you are smarter than these guys in here and if you put a small part of thief there…..not most presidents and they believe it…….then you r article is as good as that…you should inform and educate not make part articles that sheep follow…that is all….a straight and honest feedback.
thief there = of the article real info….reagan, clinton the bushes, Nixon, Carter, etc etc etc
You’ve already posted under 2 names on this thread. Are you going for a third?
Obama’s 2,500 deportations are nullified by the refugees he is bringing in. One million – and that’s what he will admit to allowing in the country.
VISA Overstays
Are the Obama Rule, not the exception….
Obama has deported more immigrants than any other president. Google it.
Google this. Here’s him in October 2011:
“The numbers are actually deceptive. We’ve been apprehending folks at the border and sending them back. That is counted as a deportation even though they may have only been held for a day or 48 hours.”
Those numbers were not counted as deportations previously. Everyone pretty much recognizes deportations as people removed from the interior of the country. Those numbers are way way down. The reason they put out those “deceptive” numbers is for lemmings like you who want to contend he’s doing something when he’s doing the opposite.
But you’re not alone. Most of the media repeats this lie. If you can contest the figures here, then let’s hear it. But you can’t. You’d rather keep repeating the propaganda. 2,500 people deported out of 5 million visa overstays is all but meaningless.
I’m not sure why you are calling me a “lemming” during an intellectual discussion?
I’m actually not for deportation, so that makes me feel better. Thank you!
I’m sure you’re “not for deportation”. I’m sure the law is meaningless to you. As for being a lemming, you just prove it by saying that. If you’re not for deportation, then you are endorsing open borders. If not, explain to me the difference. As for an intellectual discussion, one presumably needs facts, not just repeat what one is “told”.
Leland wake up and smell the coffee and the same for this article.!!!1
Obama’s administration so far is the best!!! No prior administration EVER removed anybody YET you all idiots go against the man like sheep without any personalities
So tori, you are an illegal!? Is that why you are not for deportation?
Tori these people are useless and no longer active and able to contribute as Society. You said it right…but they r in denial….. pitiful.
You see the facts and discount them. He has not deported more than an other. There is another who started a deportation task force who deported way more. They swept the country and many illegals ended up leaving on their own when they realized this task force wasn’t giving up. You want to Google everything. Go to a library and read a book!
Yiu missed the point…… compare Obama with other presidents…that is a Fair comparison…..all of you are just pitiful….
Is it any surprise with the current POS in the White House, or his DUNG HEAP of an administration he’s appointed to CHUA?
One of the first things that needs to be done is e-verify for every job and a lot will leave. How come the Republican Congress doesn’t have a bill going? Almost 2 years after they said put us in charge and we will do something, they have done nothing but talk more b.s. Wonder why the Republican primary voters told the national party and their anointed candidates like Jeb and Rubio to take a hike? Because they decided not to get played for fools again. You know, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me.
It’s sort of telling that Trump is having trouble raising money and Hillary isn’t. Sort of tells you who is the big business candidate. She’s been a big supporter in the past of the trade deals that have brought trade deficits and lost jobs. He has opposed them. She only came out against the TPP deal because Bernie forced her to. She also favors the wide open immigration big business wants. Business, and the never-enough military contractors, have no problem with her.