The many ties between the Biden administration and immigration activist groups likely help explain why Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested only eight people out of more than 3.1 million visa overstay leads, according to a Department of Homeland Security inspector general report.
The report attributes the low number of investigations, in just 496 visa-overstay cases, in part to a September 2021 enforcement-priorities memorandum from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Just three months before Mayorkas’ memo, a coalition known as We Are Home urged the agency to exercise broad prosecutorial discretion and choose not to pursue older immigration violations, including visa overstays.
Some coalition leaders had moved into top roles in the Biden White House and administration by the time of Mayorkas’ memo.