Many of the 19 terrorists involved in the hijacking of a commercial plane on September 11, 2001, which resulted in nearly 3,000 American deaths, managed to stay in the U.S. due to a loophole in the visa overstay system.
All the 9/11 terrorists entered the United States legally by misleading immigration officials. Sixteen of them acquired tourist visas, while three obtained business and student visas.
On that tragic day, the terrorists executed the largest attack on American soil, targeting the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. They also aimed to hit the U.S. Capitol with United Airlines Flight 93, but courageous passengers intervened, leading to a crash in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
The attacks resulted in the deaths of 2,977 Americans, with the aftermath leaving many others to grapple with ongoing health issues related to the tragedy.
Seven of the terrorists held on to their visas leading up to or during the attack. Adequate immigration enforcement apparently failed to deport these individuals beforehand.
The following terrorists maintained their visas:
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- Honi Hanju Hanjur from Saudi Arabia
- Nawaf al-Hamji of Saudi Arabia
- Mohamed Atta from Egypt
- Satam al-Sukami of Saudi Arabia
- Waleed Al-Shehri of Saudi Arabia
- Marwan al Shehi from the United Arab Emirates
- Ahmed al-Gamdi from Saudi Arabia
According to a 2004 report by the 9/11 Committee, the absence of a system to track entries and exits allowed many terrorists to remain in the country without a valid reason.
The report highlights that while the hijackers were setting their plans into motion, immigration agencies had no means of determining if any of them were overstaying their visas or moving about the U.S. “This lack of a system was particularly critical for Satam al-Sukami and Nawaf al-Hamji,” it states.
Currently, the State Department under Trump intends to implement a policy requiring substantial bonds—up to $15,000—for certain visa applicants from countries with high overstay rates.
These bonds will only be returned after the individual leaves the U.S.
A recent overstay report from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that about 400,000 foreigners still held visas and didn’t leave the country as anticipated during much of 2023.
Some nations, including Burma, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, and Haiti, have business and tourist visa overstay rates exceeding 20%.
DHS has long estimated that approximately half of the 11-22 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. initially arrived on visas but ended up overstaying them.
