The Department of Homeland Security announced that Chinese nationals have been deported from the United States via a chartered flight.
The Biden administration has been routinely criticized for allowing rampant illegal immigration over the last three years. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas argued the flight indicates the federal government’s dedication to national security.
“We will continue to enforce our immigration laws and remove individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States,” said Mayorkas in a press release. “People should not believe the lies of smugglers.”
The total number of deported Chinese nationals was not included in the agency's statement.
The agency reported the last large charter flight was conducted in 2018 and warned of impending additional removal flights. The deportation flight was conducted in coordination with China’s National Immigration Administration to engage with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in an area of “mutual interest.”
“Together, the United States and PRC are working to reduce and deter irregular migration and to disrupt illicit human smuggling through expanded law enforcement efforts,” stated the federal agency. “DHS regularly engages counterparts throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept repatriations of nationals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States and take other steps to reduce irregular migration, promote safe, lawful, and orderly pathways, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for abusing our lawful trade and travel systems and the smuggling and exploitation of vulnerable people.”
In recent years, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has documented a steady rise in Chinese nationals illegally entering the country. CBP noted in early May that more than 200 Chinese migrants were encountered at the San Diego sector of the southern border each day. Between May 1 and May 2, 485 migrants were encountered – more than 342 Chinese nationals documented in the sector during all of 2021.
Fox News reported at the time that illegal Chinese immigration in America had risen by 6,300% since 2021.
Meredith Oyen, an associate history professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, noted that the number of Chinese migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border was 10 times greater in 2023 than in 2022.
“The dramatic uptick is the result of a confluence of factors that range from a slowing Chinese economy and tightening political control by President Xi Jinping to the easy access to online information on Chinese social media about how to make the trip,” Oyen wrote in April.
She observed:The most common path for immigration for Chinese nationals is through a student visa or H1-B visa for skilled workers. But travel restrictions during the early months of the pandemic temporarily stalled migration from China. Immigrant visas are out of reach for many Chinese nationals without family or vocation-based preferences, and tourist visas require a personal interview with a U.S. consulate to gauge the likelihood of the traveler returning to China.
…with the legal routes for immigration difficult to follow, social media accounts have outlined alternatives for Chinese who feel an urgent need to emigrate. Accounts on Douyin, the TikTok clone available in mainland China, document locations open for visa-free travel by Chinese passport holders. On TikTok itself, migrants could find information on where to cross the border, as well as information about transportation and smugglers, commonly known as “snakeheads,” who are experienced with bringing migrants on the journey north.
…An estimated 55% of Chinese asylum seekers are successful in making their claims, often citing political oppression and lack of religious freedom in China as motivations. By contrast, only 29% of Venezuelans seeking asylum in the U.S. have their claim granted, and the number is even lower for Colombians, at 19%.
The Migration Policy Institute estimates that more than 11 million illegal immigrants are currently residing in the United States. While most illegal aliens (67%) were born in Mexico and Central America, at least 15% or roughly 1.7 million were born in Asia.
