Trump eyeing crackdown on countries with high visa overstay rates: report

President Trump and his administration are reportedly eyeing a crackdown on countries whose nationals overstay their visas in the U.S. 

The effort to further curb immigration would affect African nations with high overstay rates like Nigeria, Chad, Eritrea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, The Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday.

The U.S. would tell those countries that visas would become harder to obtain if rates don’t reverse, an unidentified administration official told the Journal, describing the policy as putting those countries “on notice.”

{mosads}The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill on the reported policy change.

White House spokesperson Hogan Gidley told the Journal that the administration considers it a priority “to reduce overstay rates for visas and the visa waiver program—and it’s well known that the administration is working to ensure faithful implementation of immigration welfare rules to protect American taxpayers.”

The proposed move comes as Trump has signaled new a willingness to double down on his hard-line immigration positions by overseeing changes at the Department of Homeland Security that forced the departure of many of the agency’s upper echelon, including Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. 

He confirmed last week that a proposal is under consideration to send detained immigrants to “sanctuary cities,” which refuse to cooperate with federal immigration enforcement agencies.