Homeland Security can’t keep up with amount of overstays

Ianus · 05-05-2017, 10:08 AM

The last part is interesting because it was always expected if you have US residency you are safe. However, the ICE officer said it wasn't reflected in the system and the individual they were after was still classified as an over stayer. What a waist of tax-payer resources...

Quote:

Homeland Security has built up a backlog of more than 1.2 million illegal immigrants who it believes have overstayed visas but managed to arrest only about 3,400 of them, according to the most recent data, which works out to a rate of about 1 in every 350 lawbreakers.

That is far worse than the rate for those who crossed the border illegally, and it means criminals, people engaged in narcoterrorism and other national security risks are left to run free in the U.S., the Homeland Security inspector general said in a report Thursday.

Federal agents have trouble tracking down the criminals because the government still doesn’t monitor departures, meaning it can’t be certain whether those who came on tourist, business or student visas leave when they are supposed to.

Officers have to check as many as 27 in-house systems, in addition to state databases, to try to guess whether someone has left. Even then, they can make catastrophic mistakes when it wrongly appears that a visitor has left the country.

“Such false departure information resulted in [deportation] officers closing visa overstay investigations of dangerous individuals, such as suspected criminals, who were actually still in the United States and could pose a threat to national security,” the investigators said in the report. “For example, an ERO officer stated that a suspect under investigation was listed as having left the country, but had given his ticket to a family member and was still residing in the United States.”

Visa overstays, as they are called, have become an increasing focus of the immigration debate. As the flow of illegal border crossings declines, an increasing percentage of those in the country illegally are travelers who came on business, tourist or student visas but didn’t leave when their time was up.

Several of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were overstays.

Homeland Security has struggled to get a handle on the situation, or even to figure out how bad it is.

A report last year looking at just a portion of visas calculated that more than 500,000 visitors overstayed in 2015. The total backlog grew to more than 1.2 million, the inspector general said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested only 3,402 potential overstays in 2015.

In its official response, ICE said it is trying to do a better job of calculating the number of visa overstays.

President Trump has pushed the Homeland Security Department to finish the system that would track departures, and tests are being run at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta.

The department also plans to release its next overstay report soon. That report will cover almost all visa categories, so the government will have a better sense for how bad the problem is.

But Rep. Bob Goodlatte, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that until the government tracks all departures, it won’t know what’s going on.

“Visa security is a matter of national security, and it is imperative that we know who is coming to our country and when they leave so that we protect American citizens and our interests,” the Virginia Republican said.

Congress demanded a biometric entry-exit system more than 20 years ago, but administrations in both parties have failed to deliver, saying that airports aren’t configured to check departures and that the land ports of entry are an even bigger logistical hurdle.

Mr. Goodlatte said he expects Mr. Trump’s focus on immigration to finally push Homeland Security to finish the job.

Until then, officers will waste time on bogus leads, the inspector general’s report said. The data are so unreliable that officers and agents often end up finding an overstay still in the country who the systems said already had left, or spend time trying to track down someone who did leave the country or obtained legal status.

“An ICE officer estimated that he spent more than 50 hours on a single suspect, only to find the individual had applied for [an immigration] benefit and should not have been categorized as an overstay,” the audit said.

JohannBernoulli1667 · 05-05-2017, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ianus

The last part is interesting because it was always expected if you have US residency you are safe. However, the ICE officer said it wasn't reflected in the system and the individual they were after was still classified as an over stayer. What a waist of tax-payer resources...

LOL

Wow,

It is interesting how they said they could deport 11 million in 4 years and so far after 4 months they have only deported a couple hundreds.

Obviously this is not counting people at the border.

The administration is incompetent, the Obama machine was much more capable.

Pianoswithoutfaith · 05-05-2017, 01:37 PM

The Obama administration didn't go after overstayers they went after people who had just crossed the border. I am sure they would have experience the same problems.

JohannBernoulli1667 · 05-05-2017, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pianoswithoutfaith

The Obama administration didn't go after overstayers they went after people who had just crossed the border. I am sure they would have experience the same problems.

Probably, this administration promises shit without assessment.

Shear incompetence.

When you put retarded people.in charge, little gets done. This is what is happening right now.

NK74 · 05-05-2017, 06:27 PM

I am an overstayer and I ve always wondered whether I should just exit the country by walking through a land crossing to Mexico and then trying to come back. Since they don't track departures, they won't know when I left.

Trouble is I had a couple of interactions with the police (nothing serious but local police has my name and address)and I don't know whether local police shares their database with ICE so I don't want to risk it.

But conceivably it seems to me that it could be done, I don't know why people don't do it. I am just so tired with the 10 year bar bs.

Pianoswithoutfaith · 05-05-2017, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NK74

I am an overstayer and I ve always wondered whether I should just exit the country by walking through a land crossing to Mexico and then trying to come back. Since they don't track departures, they won't know when I left.

Trouble is I had a couple of interactions with the police (nothing serious but local police has my name and address)and I don't know whether local police shares their database with ICE so I don't want to risk it.

But conceivably it seems to me that it could be done, I don't know why people don't do it. I am just so tired with the 10 year bar bs.

You can do more with your overstay status than as a EWI

JohannBernoulli1667 · 05-06-2017, 01:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NK74

I am an overstayer and I ve always wondered whether I should just exit the country by walking through a land crossing to Mexico and then trying to come back. Since they don't track departures, they won't know when I left.

Trouble is I had a couple of interactions with the police (nothing serious but local police has my name and address)and I don't know whether local police shares their database with ICE so I don't want to risk it.

But conceivably it seems to me that it could be done, I don't know why people don't do it. I am just so tired with the 10 year bar bs.

Encounters with law enforcement would give it away. Usually CPB has access to that information as you coming, actually if you are flying they review your info as you are eating peanuts on your way to the U.S.

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Homeland Security can’t keep up with amount of overstays