Nearly 500K foreigners overstayed visas in 2015

MIAMI — Nearly half a million foreigners who legally entered the U.S. remained here after their visas expired last year, according to a government study that is the first of its kind.

The report, obtained by USA TODAY, is the first analysis of a population that is largely unknown. The so-called "visa overstays" represent an estimated 40% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country, but are overshadowed by undocumented immigrants who sneak across the nation's southwest border with Mexico.

The results collected by the Department of Homeland Security indicate that those who overstayed their visas are a tiny fraction (1.07%) of the nearly 45 million foreigners who legally entered the country in 2015. Yet the numbers are sure to spark debate about immigration enforcement at a Senate hearing Wednesday where DHS officials will testify about the findings.

Congress first ordered the department to conduct a report on visa overstays in 1997. Members of Congress have spent years asking department officials for the data, only to be told by DHS that it couldn't be compiled.

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