Pro
Ted Cruz, JD, US Senator (R-TX), in his 2016 presidential campaign statement, "Cruz Immigration Plan," available at tedcruz.org, accessed on Oct. 25, 2016, stated:
“Criminalize visa overstays. It has been estimated that approximately 40 percent of the illegal immigrants currently in the United States originally came here legally, but are overstaying their visas. Although it is a federal misdemeanor to illegally enter the country, it is not currently a federal crime to overstay a visa. I will work quickly with Congress to change that. We will make it a misdemeanor for a first offense, and a felony for any subsequent offense, for any individual to be unlawfully present in the United States after the expiration of a visa. This will help us remove people who abuse our goodwill, deter others from doing so, and eliminate a major national security vulnerability.”
Oct. 25, 2016