REPORT: ICE Ignored National Security Threats Under Biden Policy

A new Department of Homeland Security audit confirms what many Americans long suspected: the Biden administration did virtually nothing to remove aliens who had overstayed their visas – even those who posed a credible national security threat to the United States. The shocking report is a chilling reminder of the perils of Democrat open borders policies just ahead of the midterm elections.

As AMAC Newsline has previously explained, the illegal alien population isn’t just individuals who crossed the border illegally. It also includes those who came to the United States lawfully but were only authorized to be in the country on a temporary basis, such as individuals on business, tourist, or student visas. Many of these aliens simply stay in the country indefinitely, in violation of federal immigration law.

According to the audit, which covered fiscal years 2021 to 2024, the Biden administration issued a jaw-dropping 31 million nonimmigrant visas over that time period. This means that in addition to the estimated 10 million aliens who crossed the border illegally under Biden, Democrats also allowed in more than three times that number on visas. That total amounts to nearly 12 percent of the entire U.S. population.

Even more astoundingly, more than 12 million of these visas were issued without in-person interviews or fingerprint collection – meaning that the Biden administration made zero effort to verify that the stated reasons for applying for a visa were legitimate. They also had no way to track or identify these individuals once they entered the country, because the addresses they provided were often hotels or other non-permanent residences.

But the real bombshell in the report is a Biden policy directive telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to effectively ignore tips about visa overstays.

According to the audit, ICE received more than 3.14 million nonimmigrant visa overstay leads from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Of those, immigration officials categorized 104,000 “as potential national security and public safety concerns.”

But because of Biden’s policy, ICE “took few enforcement actions using targeted leads concerning foreign nationals who overstayed or otherwise violated their nonimmigrant visa terms of admission,” the inspector general’s official report concluded. “As a result, foreign nationals who potentially posed threats to the United States remained at large despite their illegal status.”

Of those 104,000 national security threats, ICE deemed just 21,000 as “viable for investigation.” (Notably, “viable” just means that the lead fits with the Biden administration’s priorities. It does not mean the other tips were necessarily unreliable or incorrect.) But the agency actually looked into even fewer – just 496 cases.

The math keeps getting worse.

Officials designated 1,769 viable leads as “Priority 1,” meaning those considered “potentially posing the highest threat to national security or public safety.” From this set, officers only investigated 84, or just five percent.

So, of the “worst of the worst,” as determined even by the narrow standards of the Biden administration, ICE investigated fewer than 1,000 leads and arrested just 10 people. It arrested another two through its “enforcement and removal operations” arm. Nearly 97 percent of all leads were designated as “Non-Priority 10.”

A DHS press release highlighted several cases of alien overstays not investigated or prosecuted under the Biden administration who went on “to commit horrific crimes in the United States.”

Shaqiuel Williams, an alien from Jamaica, overstayed his visa and then allegedly stabbed two people at a Burger King. Sameh Chami, an Uber driver who overstayed his visa, sexually assaulted one of his passengers. John Johnstone, an illegal alien from the U.K., allegedly tortured dogs at an animal shelter where he worked.

Even in cases where visa overstays committed criminal acts, the Biden administration often failed to remove them from the country. In one case cited in the report, a foreign national from the Dominican Republic admitted under a tourism visa was convicted of retail theft more than a year after his visa authorization expired. Shockingly, this individual was allowed to remain in the country and become a legal permanent resident.

In another instance, a foreign national from Chile was convicted of crimes on three separate occasions after overstaying his nonimmigrant visa, including for felony burglary and felony credit card fraud. But instead of being deported, he was released from custody after serving jail time and is now considered a fugitive.

Thankfully, Trump administration reforms are beginning to address the glaring loopholes created by the Biden administration. Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed in July 2025, billions of dollars were pumped into ICE to hire more officers and increase enforcement operations. Immigration officials are now focused on aggressively deporting visa overstays and cracking down on fraudulent asylum claims.

Critics will argue that foreign nationals who overstay nonimmigrant visas aren’t hurting anyone, and that if they are spending money here it’s good for the economy. But the reality is that many of these individuals have criminal pasts that are completely unknown to immigration authorities. Even one American harmed by a visa overstay is one too many. Moreover, someone who intentionally violates U.S. immigration law in an attempt to cut the line cannot be trusted to follow the nation’s other laws.

The DHS report confirms that the Biden administration seriously jeopardized U.S. national security in pursuit of its open borders agenda. President Trump closed the border and stopped the bleeding almost immediately after taking office. As voters weigh their final decisions in the upcoming midterm elections, they should keep this contrast in mind – because there is no doubt that Democrats will do everything they can to throw open the border once again, stop prosecution of visa overstays, and restart the mass illegal immigration machine.