Washington, D.C., April 25, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- New analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies of the Department of Homeland Security's annual visa overstay report shows a decline in the total number of air and sea travelers believed to have overstayed their authorized visit. Nevertheless, certain countries and categories remain a problem in terms of both the number of overstays and the poor rates of compliance.
View the full analysis: https://cis.org/Report/DHS-Reports-Slight-Dip-Overstays-2018
Jessica Vaughan, the Center's Director of Policy Studies and co-author of the report, said, "While the decline in total overstays is certainly positive, there is more that the Trump administration can do. It should complete the entry-exit system and curtail illegal employment, as well as expand the scope of the vetting travel ban to include more categories and countries, and impose consequences on organizations sponsoring visitors who do not comply with visas."
Key findings:
- DHS tallied 667,000 overstays in 2018, down about 5 percent from 2017.
- While the number of visa-waiver overstays came down by 29 percent, the number of regular visa shortterm visitor overstays was largely unchanged, and the number of overstays in the category including guestworkers went up by 25 percent.
- The number of overstays from India in the guestworker category more than doubled. Overstays in this category from Guatemala, China, and Jamaica also jumped significantly.
- The most notable improvement in visa waiver overstays was the decrease in the number from the United Kingdom, which fell by 45 percent.
- Overstays from air and sea arrivals from Canada and Mexico declined by 9 percent, mostly due to smaller overstays counted from Canadians.
- A large share of regular short-term visitor overstays come from just four countries: Brazil, Venezuela, Nigeria, and Colombia. Citizens of these countries make up more than 40 percent of all overstays in this category.
- A number of countries that are subject to the vetting travel ban have some of the worst visa compliance rates in several different categories.
- Additional steps can be taken by the Trump administration to reduce overstays, including adjusting visa issuance policies and imposing consequences on entities that sponsor non-compliant visitors.
Contact:
Marguerite Telford
Director of Communications, Center for Immigration Studies
(202) 466-8185
mrt@cis.org