Thread: DHS: 527,127 Foreign Nationals Overstayed Their Visas in 2015; 2,456 Deported

DHS: 527,127 Foreign Nationals Overstayed Their Visas in 2015; 2,456 Deported

By Jeannette Richard | June 15, 2016 | 3:14 PM EDT

Visa applicants lining up at the U.S. Embassy in New Dehli, India. (AP photo)

(CNSNews.com) -- A total of 527,127 foreign nationals who were admitted to the United States on non-immigrant visas and who were supposed to leave the country in 2015 failed to do so, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials told a congressional subcommittee on Tuesday.

"In FY 2015, of...nearly 45 million nonimmigrant visitors, DHS calculated a total overstay rate of 1.17 percent, or 527,127 individuals,” DHS officials said in a joint statement submitted to the House Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, which held a hearing on "Overstaying Their Welcome: National Risks Posed by Visa Overstays."

Some visitors stayed beyond their authorized visit, but left the country by Jan. 4, 2016, reducing the suspected overstays to 416,500, the statement continued.

In January, DHS released its first Entry/Exit Overstay Report, which contains data on visa overstays, defined as "a nonimmigrant who was lawfully admitted to the United States for an authorized period but stayed in the United States beyond his or her lawful admission period.”

U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) told Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and the National Interest, that it deported 2,456 individuals who had overstayed their visas in 2015 - the lowest number since President Obama took office, according to a May 6 press release.

However, DHS noted that the total number of visa overstays represent only visitors traveling through air and sea points of entry for purposes of business or pleasure, and do not include foreign nationals who crossed the U.S. border by land.

The African nation of Djibouti had the highest percentage of visa overstays (27.67%), according to DHS, but overstay rates for several other countries were well over 10 percent, including: Bhutan (24.89%), Eritrea (19.28%), Laos (18.44%), Burkina Faso (18.01%), Chad (17.43%), Federated States of Micronesia (16.00%), Mauritania (13.49%), Georgia (12.44%), Gambia (11.20%), Liberia (11.93%), and Afghanistan (10.86%).

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...isas-2015-2456

Disgusting.