Sessions sums up US immigration policy: ‘Millions can come, no one is required to leave’

WASHINGTON — Responding to a newly released report from the Department of Homeland Security that revealed over 500,000 temporary visitors to the United States overstayed their visas last year but were not deported, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) declared the country has descended into a state of “open borders” in which “millions are free to come… and no one is required to leave.”

“This long-awaited report from the Department of Homeland Security demonstrates that we are in the midst of a national immigration crisis,” said Sessions. “The report examined only temporary visitors traveling as tourists or business workers, and only those entering at sea and air ports, and yet found that a shocking 527,127 individuals illegally overstayed past their mandatory date of departure. That’s more than half a million overstays in one year for this one category of aliens. These figures do not include any foreign students or any other foreign worker programs such as the H-1B, the L-1, the H-2B and many, many more. Nor does it include those who arrived through land ports, thus millions who came on border crossing cards are excluded. And, because this report was only generated using biographic data, and not biometric data, the true number of overstays is likely much higher.”

Adding to his concerns, Sessions revealed that many of the visa overstays are also from “high-risk regions” that represent a greater threat of terrorism.

“The report finds thousands of illegal overstays for business workers and tourist aliens (the B-visa) from high-risk regions, including: 56 illegal overstays from Libya, 219 from Afghanistan, 219 from Yemen, 440 from Syria, 564 from Iran, 681 from Iraq, 922 from Indonesia, 1,147 from Bangladesh, and 1,435 from Pakistan,” he explained. “All of these figures refer to those who both illegally overstayed their visas and were believed to still be present illegally inside the United States at the end of the last fiscal year.”

In conclusion, Sessions said the Obama administration’s policies have resulted in U.S. sovereignty being jeopardized in favor of open borders.

“Visa expiration dates have become optional,” he said. “The Administration does not believe that violating the terms of your visa should result in deportation. What we are witnessing is tantamount to an open border. Millions are free to come on temporary visas and no one is required to leave.”