The United States Government has ordered an urgent crackdown on visa overstays, following the arrest of an Egyptian national, Mohammed Solima, for allegedly setting eight Americans on fire in Boulder, Colorado.
The directive, issued by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem on Wednesday, follows revelations that Solima had overstayed his visa and had remained in the country “unlawfully” since 2022.
Solima faces federal hate crime charges alongside multiple state felony counts.
In a statement on Wednesday, Noem vowed that all individuals found to have overstayed their visas would be located, prosecuted, and deported.
Noem said, “There is no room in the United States for the rest of the world’s terrorist sympathizers.
“Anyone who thinks they can come to America and advocate for antisemitic violence and terrorism – think again. You are not welcome here.
“We will find you, deport you, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”
Noem directed the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to accelerate the review of immigration records to identify visa overstays.
“At the direction of the Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services are ramping up the review of immigration records and will take immediate appropriate actions to crack down on visa overstays stemming from the Biden Administration’s failure to enforce the law,” the statement from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The directive follows the arrest of 45-year-old Solima for what authorities described as a “shocking terrorist attack” in Boulder, Colorado.
A 2023 report by the Department of Homeland Security estimated that 565,000 temporary visa holders overstayed their permitted duration that year.
Although 55,000 eventually departed by the end of the fiscal year, nearly 500,000 remained in the country illegally.
The report noted that student and exchange visa holders had an overstay rate of nearly four per cent, with some countries recording significantly higher figures.
“More than 70 per cent of students from Equatorial Guinea, 54 per cent from Eritrea, and 40 per cent from Burma who were supposed to leave in 2023 did not do so by year’s end,” the report stated. “China’s overstay rate was just one per cent, but that still accounted for more than 3,000 students.”
