Several of the 19 Islamic extremists who hijacked commercial airliners on Sept. 11, 2001, killing about 3,000 Americans, were able to stay in the U.S. beyond the expiration of their visas thanks to a visa loophole used by about 1 million foreigners in 2022.
All of the September 11 terrorists arrived in the United States legally, 16 on tourist visas and three on business and student visas. Ultimately, on September 11, terrorists carried out attacks in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania, killing 2,977 Americans, with thousands more dying in the aftermath from illnesses related to the attacks.
Seven of the terrorists had overstayed their visas either before or at the time of the attacks, and due to poor enforcement of federal immigration law, none of the seven were deported from the United States before the attacks were carried out.
The terrorists who overstayed their visas are:
- Hani Hasan Hanjour of Saudi Arabia
- Nawaf Al Hamzi of Saudi Arabia
- Egypt's Mohamed Atta
- Satam al-Sukham of Saudi Arabia
- Waleed Alshehri of Saudi Arabia
- Marwan Al Shehhi of the United Arab Emirates
- Ahmed Al Ghamdi of Saudi Arabia
Some experts say that the visa overstay loophole exploited by several 9/11 terrorists now remains more open than ever.
In 2022, the last year for which the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released such figures, more than 850,000 foreign nationals who arrived in the U.S. legally on visas overstayed their visas.
“A significant number of the new illegal immigrants entered the country legally on temporary visas or visa waiver programs and then did not leave the country when their visas expired,” said Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Migration Studies. testified It was submitted to Parliament earlier this year.
DHS for FY2022 That year, 850,000 foreign tourists overstayed their stay. The overstay rate for 2022 is 3.67%, more than double the rate in recent years. Of course, not all of these people stay long term, and there are a certain number of people whose departure records are not properly kept even after they leave the country. Current levels of overstays are much higher than in 2021 or even in the years prior to COVID-19. [Emphasis added]
Visa overstay About half of the country's illegal immigrant population.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter. here.
