America’s Overlooked Immigration Crisis: Visa Overstays

As America continues to experience record illegal border crossings along our southern border with Mexico, an often overlooked part of America’s immigration crisis is Visa overstays.

While there are many different types of Visas, a Visa is a travel document which the United States gives to citizens of foreign countries to visit the United States for a specific purpose, such as tourism, visiting family, or temporarily working in the U.S

Unfortunately, the system is poorly tracked by the U.S. government and widely abused by foreigners who receive a Visa for to visit the United States and then intentionally stay beyond their Visa-authorized visit. 

NumbersUSA has a helpful video documenting the problem with Visa overstays.

So, just how bad is the problem? According to a recent report by the Congressional Research Service, “on average, between 1% and 2% of nonimmigrant admissions result in an overstay each year, representing approximately 650,000-850,000 overstays annually from FY2016 through FY2022.” 

As NumbersUSA points out in the video, an estimated 50% of the approximately 11-18 million illegal immigrants living in the United States entered the country legally but overstayed their period of admission. 

Efforts to reduce illegal immigration in 2024 and beyond must be focused on an all-of-the-above approach to our immigration laws and enforcement mechanisms, not simply securing our border.