WASHINGTON, D.C. – Senator JD Vance (R-OH) has introduced legislation to crack down on illegal visa overstays. According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there are nearly 700,000 visa overstays each year. The Timely Departure Act would create a visa bond system requiring non-immigrant visa recipients to deposit a sum of money into a holding account with DHS before entering the United States. That money would be returned to visa holders if they depart the country in accordance with the terms of their visa. However, DHS will retain the money in the event of an illegal overstay.
“America is a welcoming nation, but we are also a nation of laws,” said Senator Vance. “There are millions of people in this country who have abused our visa system and circumvented our legal immigration process. It is a slap in the face to the working-class Ohioans whose wages are suffering – I will not stand for it. I’m proud to introduce this legislation and bring some sanity to our broken immigration system.”
The required deposit under this legislation would fall between $5,000 and $15,000. In the event of an illegal overstay, DHS would retain the forfeited deposit in an account that can only be used to fund the detention and removal of illegal aliens. Under the Timely Departure Act, overstayers who fail to claim asylum before the expiration of their visas would be ineligible to make a defensive asylum claim after their visas expire. The visa bond program created by this legislation would not apply to aliens from countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program, whose overstay rates are relatively low.
Read the legislation here. Read more from Fox News here.
###