CBP: Over 50,000,000 Nonimmigrants Entered the United States Last Year. Less than 2% Overstayed Their Welcome.

A much-anticipated (at least by immigration lawyers) report was recently released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The report, dubbed the “2016 US Entry/Exit Overstay Report,” looks at U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) airport and seaport entry/exit records, crosschecking to see how many temporary visitors may have unilaterally decided to become permanent.

According to CBP, 50,437,278 temporary workers and their families (workers and trainees, intracompany transferees, treaty traders and investors, representatives of foreign information media), students, exchange visitors, temporary visitors for pleasure, temporary visitors for business, and other nonimmigrant classes of admission, who were previously processed by CBP, were supposed to leave before the end of 2016.

Of the 50,437,278 nonimmigrants, fewer than two percent (739,478 people) overstayed their CBP welcome. While not certain, CBP believes that about 628,799 are still in the United States, while the others are thought to have left shortly after they were supposed to leave.

Surprisingly, the report notes that CBP has absolutely no idea what the accumulated number of theoretically “permanent visitors” actually is at any given time, nor does the CBP have accurate or current address data for nearly two-thirds of nonimmigrant—temporary workers—currently in the United States.

What the report makes crystal clear is that (1) the annual nonimmigrant, temporary people “marketplace” accessible to any American entrepreneur is massive in number; and (2) staying beyond a CBP set departure day, however short of a time, has serious consequences, even if you later leave. You can be taken into ICE custody, detained, put through immigration court, and physically deported from the United States. Once out of the country, you may be forever banished from ever returning. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, an overstayed visitor, or simply someone with questions about this post, please contact me at rglahoud@nmmlaw.com or (484) 544-0022.