Senator Jim Banks (R-IN) is taking direct aim at one of the largest and least-addressed problems in the U.S. immigration system: visa overstays. On Tuesday, Banks introduced the “Visa Overstay Penalties Act,” a bill that would criminalize overstaying a visa—treating it as a serious offense on par with illegal border crossings.
The move follows a shocking terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, where an Egyptian national who had overstayed his visa was arrested for attempting to murder pro-Israel demonstrators with a makeshift flamethrower and Molotov cocktails.
“The Boulder terrorist and 9/11 hijackers didn’t sneak in, they overstayed visas,” Banks said in a statement. “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 legislation would mark a major shift in how the U.S. handles visa violations. Currently, overstaying a visa is a civil offense. Banks’ bill would elevate it to a criminal offense—punishable by up to six months in jail for a first offense and up to two years for repeat violations. Additionally, civil fines of up to $1,000 would be imposed, with fines doubling for repeat offenders.
The numbers behind the issue are staggering. Every year, between 550,000 and 800,000 foreign nationals overstay their visas. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that visa overstays make up roughly half of the total illegal alien population in the U.S., which ranges from 11 to 22 million individuals.
The Boulder attacker, 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, is emblematic of how dangerous this loophole can be. Soliman entered the U.S. on a tourist visa through Los Angeles in August 2022. When that visa expired in February 2023, he never left. Instead, the Biden administration approved a work permit for him just a month later in March 2023. That permit expired in March of this year—by which point Soliman had already been living in the U.S. illegally for over a year.
He had also been denied a U.S. visa 20 years earlier.
Last weekend, Soliman used improvised weapons to attack a group of Americans rallying in support of Israel and calling for the release of hostages held by Hamas. The victims suffered burns and other injuries. Authorities are treating the incident as politically motivated terrorism.
Banks’ bill aims to prevent such individuals from slipping through the cracks in the future. By imposing criminal penalties, the Indiana senator argues, the U.S. would create a real deterrent to visa fraud and neglect.
This policy change stands in sharp contrast to the current posture under President Biden. Despite Soliman’s overstay, the Biden administration greenlit his work permit—effectively granting legitimacy to his continued presence in the country. That decision is now under renewed scrutiny as lawmakers examine the administration’s lenient stance on immigration enforcement.
Immigration hawks have long called for a tougher approach to visa overstays, arguing that the border crisis isn’t limited to illegal crossings between ports of entry. “Every year we hear about the border,” one Senate aide noted, “but half the problem is people flying in on tourist or student visas and just never leaving.”
Banks hopes this new legislation can begin to change that. By making visa overstays a criminal offense, his bill would finally give law enforcement teeth to go after the millions of illegal aliens who didn’t cross the border—but simply overstayed their welcome.
