DHS Hazards a Guest with Expired Visas

Tony Perkins, Washington Update: What exactly is Homeland Security doing when it isn't busy labeling conservatives terror threats or dishing out sex change drugs to illegals? Not its job, according to a stunning new report. Days removed from the worst radical Islamic attack on U.S. soil since 9/11, officials have been stunned to learn that DHS may be unintentionally laying the groundwork for another.

In what could be the worst crisis no one knows about, hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals who came to the United States for a limited time have grossly overstayed their visas, Congress is learning. On Tuesday, a House subcommittee was blown away to learn that 527,127 visitors who were supposed to leave in 2015 didn't. These "visa overstays," as they're called, are defined as any "nonimmigrant who was lawfully admitted to the United States for an authorized period but stayed in the United States beyond his or her lawful admission period." Now, the problem is so out of control, CNSNews reports, that as many as 60 percent of the people who are in America illegally are "overstayers."

Making matters worse, the Obama administration doesn't seem to care. Last year, a measly 2,456 were deported -- the lowest number ever under President Obama. "That sounds to me like an extension of the administration's amnesty program," Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) argued. "The message they are sending wide and far is: just get into the country. If you're not convicted of a serious crime, you're going to be allowed to stay. You're going to pass go. You're going to get the money. And that is the wrong message to send because it increases more illegal immigration."

And conservatives weren't the only ones concerned about the DHS report. Smith's Texas colleague, Democrat Rep. Filemon Vela, pointed out that this could be an even bigger problem than her home state's border control. "While Congress has in recent years paid a great deal of attention to securing our southern border (and rightfully so), less attention has been focused on successfully addressing visa overstays. The approximately 527,000 individuals who overstayed in fiscal year 2015 is a far greater number than the 331,000 individuals who were apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border that year, illustrating the scope of the overstay problem."

Obviously, very few immigrants are a threat to American security. But, as too many families can attest, the administration's lax attitude toward immigration law is another way for our enemies to exploit us. Considering our recent history, it should confound everyone that this isn't a greater priority for DHS. But despite presiding over some of the worst mass shootings in American history, the president continues to show the greatest hospitality to terrorist wannabes and foreigners with zero respect for U.S. law. Meanwhile, Christians -- who are being slaughtered, persecuted, and chased from their Middle East homelands -- are turned away at the gates.

In the midst of it all, there seems to be a growing chorus of believers who justify these open-door policies on immigration with the Bible's command to "love the stranger." And I agree: we should love the stranger, but that doesn't mean we have to do so at the expense of our own laws or security. There are plenty of charitable solutions for refugees that don't involve bringing them to America and letting them take advantage of our hospitality. Our nation can be caring and benevolent without unnecessarily endangering our own people. What many forget is that loving the stranger is just one component of Scripture's teaching. God also commands these foreigners to assimilate and keep the laws of the land. As Exodus 12:49 makes clear: "There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you." The United States' goal should be a safe haven for everyone. And that means protecting America's welcoming reputation without sacrificing our systems and safety.
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Tony Perkins is President of the Family Research Council . This article was on Tony Perkin's Washington Update an written with the aid of FRC senior writers.

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