GOP proposes bill to criminalize overstaying visas following Boulder attack

Published June 3, 2025 6:10pm ET



A Republican senator proposed a bill that would impose harsher penalties on legal immigrants who enter the country on a visa but fail to depart the United States on time.

On Tuesday afternoon, Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) debuted the Visa Overstay Penalties Act, which would classify overstaying a visa as a federal crime punishable by fines and time in federal prison.

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