The White House shifted its focus this week from the surge of families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants who arrive in the United States legally and then illegally remain in the country after their visas expire.
Though President Trump has fixated on the rising numbers of Central American families claiming asylum at the southern border, he also promised during his campaign that deporting those who overstay their legal visas would be a priority for his administration.
Trump on Monday issued a presidential memo that declared visa overstay rates “unacceptably high” and calling them a “widespread problem.” On the basis of a recent Homeland Security report, he instructed federal agencies to consider action against countries that have business and tourism travelers — using the popular B1 and B2 visas — who overstay at a rate higher than 10 percent.