IG: Biden Admin Knowingly Let Millions of Visa Overstayers Remain in U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), under President Joe Biden and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, knowingly allowed millions of illegal aliens who overstayed their visas to remain in the United States, classifying them as “non-priority” aliens.

A report from DHS Inspector General (IG) Joseph Cuffari details a clear lack of immigration enforcement embedded within the Biden administration — particularly regarding visa overstays.

From 2021 to 2024, for instance, ICE received more than 3.1 million leads on visa overstays, about 104,000 of whom were classified as potential national security or public safety threats. Fewer than 500 of those national security/public safety threat leads were investigated by the agency and just eight visa overstays were ultimately arrested.

“The degree of the Biden administration’s dereliction of duty, which needlessly put American lives at risk, is staggering and enraging,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement.

The DHS IG notes that the Biden administration issued an ICE directive in September 2021 that instructed agents to investigate only visa overstay leads considered “Priority 1” — leaving millions ignored and able to continue living in the United States.

Of fewer than 1,800 visa overstay leads considered Priority 1, just 84 were investigated, leading to only two arrests.

The IG report states:

ICE conducted few nonimmigrant overstay lead-initiated investigations and arrested even fewer foreign nationals who stayed beyond or violated the terms of their admission because of the September 2021 policy that directed ICE’s limited resources only to leads posing a threat to national security, public safety, and border security. When ICE did attempt to pursue action on a lead, it encountered challenges verifying addresses and locating the foreign nationals present in the United States. Further, ICE did not have sufficient resources to pursue all overstay leads. [Emphasis added]

The latest visa overstay report from DHS reveals that almost half a million foreign nationals overstayed their visas and remained in the United States in Fiscal Year 2024.

“Unlike the Biden administration, the Trump administration will always put the safety of the American people first,” Mullin said. “We will target and remove as many illegal aliens as possible to make America safe again.”

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com.