Several hundred thousand people who traveled to the United States in 2016 overstayed their visas and remained in the U.S. into 2017, according to government data.
A Department of Homeland Security report released Monday shows that 739,478 visitors to the U.S. stayed longer than they were legally permitted. Of that number, 628,799 were suspected of remaining in the U.S. through fiscal year 2016.
Other figures from the data:
U.S. Customs and Border Protection processed 50,437,278 nonimmigrant admissions at U.S. air and sea ports of entry, 79,818 exchange students or other exchange visitors overstayed their visas in 2016 and 40,949 of them remained in the country at the start of 2017.
1.52 percent of the 3,079,524 legal, nonimmigrant visitors from Mexico overstayed their visas in 2016.
DHS said Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has stepped up its efforts to keep tabs on temporary visitors to the U.S. if they overstay their visas.
The report said that DHS is working to institute a nationwide biometric system that keeps better track of visitors who leave the U.S. A pilot program has been taking place at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
"To continue biometric exit implementation, CBP will expand the deployment of this technology to seven additional airports in the coming months" the DHS report reads. "DHS is committed to the development and deployment of a comprehensive biometric exit system — as directed by President [Donald] Trump in Executive Order 13780, 'Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry in the United States,' and as required by law."
The DHS report did not account for U.S. visitors who came here via land border crossings.
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