The other illegal immigrants

Reporter: Claire Doan

TUCSON (KGUN-TV) - The national debate over SB1070 has largely ignored one sizeable population: millions of people who used visas to enter the United States legally, but stayed long after their documentation expire.

The latest statistics show these illegal immigrants comprise nearly half of the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in America, but few are actually caught.

Last year in Arizona, federal agents arrested and deported only 27 visa violators – a tiny figure compared with the 241,673 people that Tucson Border Patrol apprehended last year.

Immigration attorney Maurice Goldman says he often encounters people who stay in the United States, even after Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) notifies them of their visas expiring.

"I've seen people here for sometimes a decade, sometimes longer without documentation. They're flying under the radar. They're not doing anything that's drawing attention to them," Goldman said. "That's why you see so many people here over the years. As long as [they're] not getting into criminal trouble, they're not really high priority as far as arrests."

9OYS asked Richard Crocker, the Deputy Special Agent in Charge at ICE, why there seems to be a lack of priority when it comes to tracking down visa violators. He says the statistics do not reflect a lack of effort on ICE's part; rather, it's a matter of geography.

"Most of what we deal with here are the entry-without-inspection people who walk across the border, who have not status to begin with. That's the bulk of our work," Crocker said. "Most of your visa overstays, foreign student, violent overstays – most of them are in your major metropolitan areas."

Agents in ICE's special enforcement unit in Washington, DC look through data and records for possible violators, prioritize the list of possible offenders and send names to local ICE offices. That's when local agents in Arizona track down the visa violators and make arrests.


"The problem is that we have procedures in place. The federal laws exist. The penalties exist. They basically have not been enforced over the years," Attorney General Terry Goddard said, but emphasize that Arizona has certain mechanisms in place to deter visa violators.

"Frankly, in Arizona we're very tough on having any kinds of benefits. You can't get driver's licenses. You can't get insurance. You can't get state benefits of many kinds. So that's a start."