Several of the 19 Islamic terrorists who hijacked commercial planes on September 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 Americans, were able to stay in the United States after overstaying their visas thanks to a loophole used by almost a million foreigners in 2022.
All of the September 11 terrorists arrived legally in the U.S. with 16 securing tourist visas while three obtained business and student visas. Eventually, on September 11, the terrorists executed attacks in New York City, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania that killed 2,977 Americans and have since left thousands more dead with illnesses related to the attacks.
Seven of the terrorists overstayed their visas either before the attacks or at the time of the attacks. Failures in federal immigration enforcement ensured that none of the seven were deported from the U.S. before the attacks were carried out.
Today, the visa overstay loophole used by several of the 9/11 terrorists remains more open than ever, according to some experts.
In 2022, the last year the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) published such figures, more than 850,000 foreign nationals who arrived legally in the U.S. on visas had overstayed those visas.
