What’s wrong with the federal government finally stepping up to track down the millions of people who are overstaying their visas on American soil?
We applaud the administration for taking this issue seriously. Yet, if you look at the ridiculously biased article on this subject, you would think that it’s being designed to quash the free speech of innocent people.
We were amazed that there were 55 million people in America on visas. We don’t know at this point how many of them have illegally overstayed the privilege to be here based on approvals they received for a few weeks for a vacation or business trip, but we know it’s substantial. In fact, anywhere from 40% to 50% of all those here legally in America did not arrive via an illegal border crossing, but rather by overstaying visas that were granted to them as a privilege.
Part of the crackdown is to go after those who abused the privilege granted to them by fomenting dissension on American soil, as was the case with the Columbia grad student who was organizing protests that wound up shutting access and to Jewish students on campus and, in some cases, harassing them.
But there shouldn’t have to be a predicate beyond the overstay that warrants the deportation of these individuals. A person overstaying a visa doesn’t get to say they’re entitled to stay here forever simply because they haven’t committed a crime once they came onto American soil.
The mere fact that they’ve overstayed is grounds enough to deport them. Failing to enforce these time limits on the visas sends the message that we have an open border, which is why millions come here deliberately on a temporary visa with the intent to stay forever.
The article quoted immigration attorneys and far-left advocacy groups that have been known to promote illegal immigration. Nowhere is there a quote from those in American society deleteriously impacted by these overstays. There’s no quote from those who have been denied jobs because those here illegally took them. No quotes from those who have had their wages suppressed because of illegal labor. No quotes from those who had to wait longer for a doctor’s appointment or who saw their rents soar because so many people who overstay their visas are competing for limited housing supply.
Once again, the media has portrayed those who come to stay here illegally as the good guys — the innocent victims — and those trying to enforce the law as the bad guys who are exploiting the underdog immigrants.
Let’s not forget that the Egyptian national who firebombed and killed Jews at a Jewish center a few months ago had illegally overstayed his visa, along with his family. The salt in the wound is that the Biden administration gave working papers to this individual who is illegally here.
Likewise, with the individual who overstayed his visa from India and wound up getting a commercial driver’s license from both California and Washington, despite the fact that he was here illegally and couldn’t read the English road signs. He went on to engage in a motor vehicle incident that led to the death of three American citizens.
We are committing national suicide by not enforcing our immigration laws. Good for the administration in getting tough, and shame on the media for making the law enforcement officials look like the bad guys.