President Trump issued a memorandum yesterday addressing “the high number of nonimmigrant visa recipients who stay past their authorized time in our country.” The memorandum directs the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security to report within 120 days on recommendations for limiting visa overstays, and to report within 180 days on actions being taken.
Under the memo, the Secretary of State will consider whether to suspend or limit entry of individuals from countries with visa overstay rates higher than 10 percent. The Department of Homeland Security must explore ways to reduce overstays from countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program. The Administration also will develop measures for implementing admission bonds as a means to reduce overstays.
A related fact sheet notes that as of March 2019, there were about 415,000 individuals still in the United States after overstaying their nonimmigrant visa in fiscal year 2018. Twenty countries have overstay rates of more than 10 percent, with some with rates as high as 40 percent.
Read more in The Washington Free Beacon.
