U S. Senator Jim Banks is clamouring for visa overstay to be classified as a federal offence that should carry the same penalties as those imposed on persons who enter the United States illegally in a new bill titled the Visa Overstay Penalties Act.
The bill seeks to criminalise visa overstay and penalise offenders in the same manner as those crossing the U.S. border illegally and proposes a two-year jail term for violators.
Following the tragic Molotov cocktail attack on pro-Israel protesters in Colorado last weekend when eight victims aged between 52 and 88 were injured, Mr Bank stated that such attacks could be averted if the government bore down on persons who overstayed their visa given the main suspect, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, an Egyptian citizen who travelled to the U.S. in 2023 remained there despite his visa expiring.
Mr Soliman allegedly targeted Run The Group demonstrators calling for the release of Israeli hostages held by Palestine militant group Hamas, using Molotov cocktails.
The U.S. senator made references to the 9/11 attack that claimed scores of lives to support the bill, stating that the attackers were persons whose visas had expired.
“This is about national security. The Boulder terrorist and 9/11 hijackers didn’t sneak in. They overstayed visas,” Mr Banks said in a statement to Fox News on Wednesday. “That’s just as serious and just as dangerous. My bill cracks down on visa overstays with criminal penalties to stop threats before they happen.”
The bill proposes a six-month jail term for first-time offenders, and repeat offenders could be imprisoned for up to two years.
Civil penalties would start at $500 to $1,000 and would double with each subsequent offence. The current penalty for visa overstay in the United States begins at just $50.
