The New York Times’ James McKinley and Julia Preston report on a flaw in post-9/11 national security: the threat posed by people who overstay their tourist visas, which typically last for six months. Of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S., 40 percent are here not because they got past Mexican border guards, but because they overstayed their visa. (Snotty elitist I am, I thought this article was going to be about people who overstay their college or graduate school student visa. But according to the Times, the system for monitoring student visas is effective.)

The article mentions just one solution to this problem, and that’s a more sophisticated way for tracking departures from the country — like an electronic exit monitoring system. But the point is that these immigrants aren’t departing! Any solution to better tracking people when they’re in the U.S. will require better coordination between the FBI, Dept. of Homeland Security and local law enforcement.

Comment RSS - You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.