By Steve Levy
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?
The Trump administration should be applauded for taking this issue seriously. Yet if you look at the ridiculously biased articles on the subject, you’d think the crackdown is designed to quash the free speech of innocent people.
Many have been amazed to discover that there are over 50 million people in the United States on visas. At this point, we don’t know how many of them have illegally overstayed the privilege of being here based on approvals they received for a few weeks for a vacation or a business trip, but we know it’s a substantial number.
In fact, roughly 40 percent of all those here illegally did not arrive by way of an illegal border crossing, but rather by overstaying visas that were granted to them as a privilege.
Part of the crackdown is to target those fermenting dissension on American soil, as was the case with the Columbia University graduate student who was organizing protests that wound up cutting off access for 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 people. Someone who overstays a visa doesn’t get to say they’re entitled to stay here forever simply because they haven’t committed a crime since they came onto American soil. The mere fact that they’ve overstayed is grounds enough to deport them. Failing to enforce the time limits on visas sends the message that we have an open border, which is why millions come here deliberately on temporary visas with the intent to stay forever.
The articles opposing the crackdown often quote immigration attorneys and far-left advocacy groups that have been known to promote illegal immigration. Nowhere are there quotes from those in American society who are deleteriously impacted by these overstays. There are no quotes 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 have had to wait longer for doctor’s appointments, or who saw their rents soar because so many people who overstay their visas are competing for a 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 fire-bombed and killed Jews 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 was here illegally.
Then there was the man from India who overstayed his visa and wound up getting a commercial driver’s license in both California and Washington, despite the fact that he was here illegally and didn’t understand the English-language road signs. He got involved in an accident that led to the deaths of three American citizens.
We are committing national suicide by not enforcing our immigration laws. Good for the administration for getting tough, and shame on those in the media who make law-enforcement officials look like the bad guys.
Steve Levy is president of Common Sense Strategies, a political consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County executive, as a state assemblyman and as host of “The Steve Levy Radio Show.” He is also the author of “Solutions to America’s Problems” and “Bias in the Media.” SteveLevy.info, Twitter @SteveLevyNY, steve@commonsensestrategies.com.
