Op-ed: To Fix America’s Visa Crisis, Shrink the System and Restore Integrity

When President Donald Trump returned to power earlier this year, he inherited an immigration system stretched beyond its limits in every conceivable way. At the heart of this crisis lies a glaring double standard. When migrants enter the country, it’s all about the quantity of decisions — admitting more people, faster — rather than the quality. Many newcomers can legally remain, sometimes permanently. Yet millions are expected to leave once their visas expire or their claims are denied.

At that point, the state suddenly shifts its focus to the quality of each decision, weighing due process and individual circumstances, rather than the quantity. This tension fuels our broken removal system, paralyzes immigration courts, and contributes to a foreign-born population that has now reached at least 50 million people, more than 16% of the United States.

In 2024 alone, nearly 11 million nonimmigrant visas were issued, driven by policies that prioritized speed over scrutiny. Short-term visitor visas, especially B-1 and B-2, soared to roughly 9 million approvals despite being the most frequent source of overstays. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of new student and exchange visas were granted. Although refusal rates rose in some categories under the Biden administration, the sheer volume of applications exploded, overwhelming consulates and signaling widespread attempts to exploit weak standards.

The solution is not simply to manage this chaos more efficiently. It’s to reduce it decisively.

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[Read the rest at the Washington Examiner]