Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) has introduced legislation that would impose hefty fines on the hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens who overstay their visas annually.
On Thursday, Vance announced the introduction of the “Timely Departure Act,” which would create a visa bond system that would require foreign nationals on non-immigrant visas to deposit anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000 into a holding account before their arrival in the United States.
That deposit would be held by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and only returned to non-immigrant visa-holders if they depart the U.S. following the terms of their visa. Those who fail to depart the U.S. under their visa terms will forfeit the deposit to DHS, which will solely use the funds to detain and deport illegal aliens.
“America is a welcoming nation, but we are also a nation of laws,” Vance said:
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. [Emphasis added]
Annually, as Breitbart News has reported, hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals become illegal aliens living in the U.S. after overstaying their visas — with little-to-no enforcement by the federal government.
In Fiscal Year 2022, nearly 854,000 foreign nationals overstayed their visas from October 2021 through September 2022 — more than 795,000 of whom remain illegal aliens in the U.S., while close to 59,000 left the U.S. only after their visas expired.
Center for Immigration Studies Director of Research Jessica Vaughan has suggested that the figure is “probably a record high” for DHS. In comparison, in Fiscal Year 2015, about 482,000 foreign nationals overstayed their visas.
More than 190,000 foreign nationals who overstayed their visas in Fiscal Year 2021 remained in the U.S. as of February of this year.
Today, there are anywhere from 11 to 22 million illegal aliens living in the U.S. Estimates have repeatedly projected that about half of all illegal aliens living in the country arrived on visas and subsequently overstayed.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at jbinder@breitbart.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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