Goodlatte Statement on Entry/Exit Overstay Report

Washington, D.C.  – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) issued the following statement on the Department of Homeland Security’s “Entry/Exit Overstay Report for Fiscal Year 2015”, which looked at only two of the many categories of temporary visitors to the U.S. and found that more than 500,000 temporary visitors overstayed their visas last year: “It’s estimated that 30 to 40 percent of unlawful immigrants came to the U.S. legally but overstayed their visas. To strengthen national security and the integrity of our immigration system, Congress mandated a biometric entry/exit system nearly 20 years ago but the Department of Homeland Security -- under multiple Administrations -- has failed to fully implement it. This is unacceptable and needlessly jeopardizes Americans’ lives and national security. “The Department of Homeland Security’s report is not comprehensive because it uses biographic data, rather than biometric data, to determine overstay rates and it only looks at two categories of temporary visitors. There is no way to truly determine how many people overstayed their visas without a biometric exit system.  That said, many of the report’s findings are alarming: more than half a million visitors overstayed their visas, over 150,000 Visa Waiver Program visitors overstayed their allotted time here, and thousands of overstayers came from countries associated with terrorism, such as Iran, Sudan, and Yemen.  We know that several of the 9/11 terrorists overstayed their visas and it is mind boggling that the Administration has still not addressed this issue even though it has the legal tools to do so. This report should be a wakeup call for the Administration to take steps to fully implement the law.”