A statement was published by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stating that ICE, CBP, and USCIS is going to “Ramp Up Crackdown on Visa Overstays Following Boulder Terrorist Attack.” An email blast wen out around noon today with the above-quoted text as the subject line and the below-quote from Secretary Noem.

“There is NO room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers. Anyone who thinks they can come to America and advocate for antisemitic violence and terrorism – think again. You are not welcome here. We will find you, deport you, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.” – Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem

The body of the email does not provide any additional information about how they will be implementing the crackdown or whether this will impact the issuance of non-immigrant visas beyond overstay issues. It does not provide information on what people who overstayed their visa should do. It just warns, “we will find you, deport you, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

The statement blames President Biden failing to enforce the law, though there is no evidence that visa overstays increased while Biden was in office. Visa overstays spiked dramatically during President Trump’s first term in office during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here are some facts about visa overstays:

• The largest number of short-term visitor overstays from non-VWP countries came from Venezuela. About 173,000 Venezuelans overstayed during the year — which is about 94 percent of the visitors. This is because the Biden administration has allowed Venezuelans to enter and receive Temporary Protected Status, a designation that includes a work permit.
• The next largest number of overstays by short-term visitors are citizens of Mexico, with approximately 124,000 overstays, at a rate of 3.5 percent.
• For the first time, DHS broke down the overstay rates for the three sub-categories of student/exchange visas. Vocational school students had the highest overstay rate of the three (9.1 percent). Exchange visitors overstayed at a rate of 5.6 percent, and university and other traditional students overstayed at a rate of 4.1 percent.  
• Just over 9,000 citizens of China overstayed on student or exchange visitor visas, representing more than 16 percent of all student/exchange overstays.  
• The largest number of overstays in the category that includes temporary workers came from Mexico (131,000) and India (5,800).