Thousands of Hungarian illegals in the US

US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has an ambitious plan. He wants to deport every illegal immigrant from the United States. There are approximately 11.3 million undocumented aliens in the US, among them an estimated 12 thousand Hungarians.

The Orbán government, Hungarian diplomats and Hungarian-American organizations have never acknowledged the existence of illegals, nor admitted the growing Hungarian illegal problem in the United States. Of course, Hungarian-Americans know about it, although the media rarely mentions it; diplomats and émigré organizations get nervous when someone brings up the issue.

Finding illegals, rounding them up and deporting them would present a huge challenge to law enforcement, and border control agencies. Many ask – Is this possible at all? Probably not. The US Department of Homeland Security publishes details in its annual Entry and Exit Overstay Report. (See here.)

Illegal aliens in the U.S. (2014).

Illegal aliens in the U.S. (2014).

Overstays in the U.S. (2015)

Overstays in the U.S. (2015)

Significant number of these illegals have never lived in Hungary, many came from Serbia, Ukraine and Romania. In the last five years, over 825 thousand ethnic Hungarians received Hungarian passports as part of the Orbán government’s 2010 fast-tracked dual-citizenship law. Over 95% of the new citizens are from these three countries. Serbia, Ukraine and Romania are not participants in the US Visa Waiver program and entry to the US from these countries is hard if not impossible. With a Hungarian passport the situation is different, citizens of Ukraine, Serbia and Romania can easily enter the United States.

Donald Trump thinks that the Visa Waiver program is a scam. It brings illegals and terrorists to the US and he called for end to the program. He told Fox News, “I’ve been talking about this for a long time.”

In 2015, a total of 2,216 Hungarians had overstayed, but 356 of them left the US later, after the 90 days threshold. 1,860 people with Hungarian passport simply “disappeared” and it is fair to assume that they became illegals. In 2014 the numbers were similar: 2,696 overstays, 376 later left, 2,320 “disappeared.” It is not irresponsible to assume that during the last 6 years of the Visa Waiver program about two thousand Hungarians become illegals in the US every year. We estimate the Hungarian illegal population at least twelve thousand in the country.

Hungarian portal Index has published a two-part exposé of Hungary’s “passport mafia.” According to the portal, selling of Hungarian citizenship has become an industry, as this passport is by far the cheapest, fastest and easiest route to EU citizenship and/or entry to North America. Hungary’s passport mafia involves corrupt officials and lawyers, to whom mainly Russian and Ukrainian citizens pay up to EUR 10,000 (USD 11,000) for a Hungarian travel document. (Index article – in Hungarian.)

Hungarian passport

Hungarian passport

The case of the Hungarian illegals is complex and before jumping to conclusions, research should be done to understand what percentage of illegals have received Hungarian passports via the fast-tracked dual-citizenship law. Also, how did the surge of Hungarian passports effect criminal activity of Hungarian nationals in the US?

But the first step should be to acknowledge that there is a Hungarian illegal problem in the US.

György Lázár

Leave a Reply to Anonymous Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *