Alhaji Kamara, 28, didn't enter the United States by hiding in the trunk of a car or trekking through the desert.
The Sierra Leone native arrived legally in 1995 the way millions do every year, with a tourist visa. He later obtained a student visa and was eventually granted temporary protected status because of civil war in his West African homeland.
But when his legal status ended in 2002, Kamara decided to stay put. He said he didn't feel safe returning home.
"There was nowhere to go back to," the Orange County resident said. "I decided to follow my education here."
Kamara, an illegal immigrant now trying to get a green card, is one of an estimated 3.6 million people living in the U.S. who have overstayed or otherwise violated the terms of their visas, according to the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general's office. They account for more than a quarter of the roughly 12 million illegal immigrants in the country.
Many who overstay their visas eventually apply for green cards or political asylum and then spend years caught up in the immigration system. Others simply disappear with little fear of being arrested or deported because rounding up visa violators has not been a high priority.
But that is changing at a time of increasingly heated national debate over illegal immigration. The Department of Homeland Security announced last month that 165,000 visa violations occur annually and that tracking those cases is part of a new enforcement crackdown.
Last year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested more than 8,000 visa violators nationwide. In Los Angeles, agents apprehended more than 70 violators in the last 18 months.
Last week, five employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power were arrested after ICE determined they were unauthorized to work in the U.S. Three others were taken into custody earlier. All but one had entered the country legally, including at least two with student and visitor visas, authorities said.
"You can't have 360-degree border security if you don't [target] who is already here," said Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Visa violators are a "significant portion of the illegal population and as such will be a viable target for interior enforcement."
But anti-illegal immigration activists said the government isn't doing enough to go after violators. They see no difference between "overstays" and those who crossed the border illegally.
