The remaining 3,041,326 overstay leads (96.7 percent) were determined by the Biden administration to be “Non-Priority.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is accusing the Biden administration of “dereliction of duty” after a DHS Office of Inspector General report revealed that the administration took little to no action to deal with noncitizens who illegally overstayed their authorized periods in the United States, including those deemed threats to national security.
The OIG report found that Biden’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) received 3,145,375 nonimmigrant visa overstay leads during fiscal years 2021–2024, with 104,049 (3.3 percent) flagged as potential national security or public safety concerns. ICE opened only 496 investigations into those flagged leads and made only eight arrests, DHS said.
The remaining 3,041,326 overstay leads (96.7 percent) were determined by the Biden administration to be “Non-Priority.”
The report also found that of 2,837,188 Non-Priority leads that were sent to ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), only five were investigated after being determined to be possible public safety threats, and only two arrests were made.
The report identified a September 2021 policy under then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas directing ICE to focus resources only on “Priority 1” threats as the “root cause” of the derelict nonenforcement of U.S. law.
“The degree of the Biden Administration’s dereliction of duty, which needlessly put American lives at risk, is staggering and enraging,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin. “As if the wide-open borders weren’t enough, a new OIG report reveals that the Biden-era ICE failed to act on more than 3 million leads about possible alien overstays, with more than 100,000 of these being labeled as potential national security threats. Unlike the Biden Administration, the Trump Administration will always put the safety of the American people first. We will target and remove as many illegal aliens as possible to make America safe again.”
In a press release, DHS provided several examples of “Non-Priority” alien overstays who went on to commit horrific crimes in the United States:
Williams was lawfully admitted to the United States in December 2023, but overstayed his authorized period after it expired in January 2024. According to DHS, he was arrested in Florida In August 2026, and charged with TWO counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon after allegedly stabbing two people at a Burger King.
Johnstone entered the country in 2021 under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) and overstayed his authorized period after it expired in February 2022, according to DHS. He was arrested in Nevada in May 2026 and charged with “FOUR felony charges of willfully torturing, maiming, or mutilating animals after he allegedly tortured dogs at the animal shelter where he worked,” DHS said.
Chami was lawfully admitted to the United States in December 2021 but overstayed his authorized period after it expired in December 2022, according to DHS. He was arrested in Texas in August 2025, and “charged with aggravated kidnapping after he allegedly sexually assaulted his Uber passenger.”
About Debra Heine
Debra Heine is a conservative Catholic mom of six and longtime political pundit. She has written for several conservative news websites over the years, including Breitbart and PJ Media.
