‘We have a monumental issue here’
Just 3,000 of roughly 6 million illegal visa overstays over the last 20 years are under active investigation by the Department of Homeland Security.
The finding was revealed during a Senate Immigration Subcommittee hearing on Wednesday. Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., did a double-take when Craig Healthy, DHS assistant director for national security investigations, announced the statistic.
“So, 3,000 [overstays] were investigated, are under investigation right now. But those 3,000 could’ve come in any one of the years in the last 20 years, correct?” Perdue asked, the Washington Free Beacon reported Friday.
“That is correct, sir,” Healy said. He added that roughly 40 percent of those individuals under investigation are eventually reported, located and removed from the country.
“My question is, if it’s 40 percent of whatever that top number, we have 4, 5, 6 million people here who overstay their visa. Directionally, that’s fairly correct,” replied Perdue. “And last year, we identified and investigated 3,000? So, you can kind of see where I’m going here. We have a monumental issue here.”
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