US lawmakers have called for more to be done on visa overstayers in the wake of a report that found that 629,000 people overstayed their visas in fiscal 2016Rep. Martha McSally, R-Tucson, called the issue “deeply concerning” and said Department of Homeland Security must do more to prevent overstays.Earlier this week,writing in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 Entry/Exit Overstay Report, the DHS revealed that of the more that 50 million nonimmigrant admissions at US air and sea ports processed in the year, 739,478 overstayed their admission, resulting in a total overstay rate of 1.47 percent.The DHS added that out of these 739,000 overstays, DHS determined 628,799 were suspected “in-country” overstays, resulting in a suspected in-country overstay rate of 1.25 percent – an individual who is a suspected in-country overstay has no recorded departure, while an out-of-country overstay has a recorded departure that occurred after their lawful admission period expired.During a House Homeland Security subcommittee, Sally also pointed to testimony by DHS officials during the hearing that the agency apprehended 310,000 people crossing the border illegally last year, half as many as the agency believes entered the country legally through air and sea ports and then stayed illegally.Committee members pointed to problems with the DHS numbers on overstays – the report does not include people who entered the country by land with a visa, and it does not include a cumulative number of overstays.John Wagner, deputy executive assistant commissioner for Customs and Border Protection, told the committee that the department is using biometrics on a limited basis, but that increasing use of the technology is an important goal, especially along the land border. “This is just a more efficient, convenient way of traveler verification, without losing any of the security benefits,” Wagner said of the promise of biometric technology.
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