According to recent data from Customs and Border Protection, the number of Chinese migrants illegally crossing the southern border into the United States has increased by more than 700% in the past three months compared to the same period in 2021.
In the 2022 fiscal year, 2,176 Chinese nationals were encountered at the southern border, while in the 2023 fiscal year, in just the first three months, southern border patrol agents reported 1,915 Chinese migrants attempting to enter the country.
The majority of these migrants are single adults, and Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin expressed concern that among these migrants are previously deported felons and potential terrorists who have slipped into the United States.
In a Congressional hearing, Modlin stated that many of the migrants believe that the border policy changed with the change in administration and that there is now an open border.
According to a Department of Homeland Security source, 15 Chinese nationals who attempted to cross into the U.S. in the Rio Grande Valley sector have been placed in custody.
Texas recently apprehended three Chinese immigrants who had each paid human smugglers $35,000 to enter the country.
These nationals are typically quickly sent back to China unless they claim to have a credible fear of persecution if returned, and those seeking asylum in the U.S. are released into the country on their own recognizance and provided with an immigration hearing court date.
In December 2022, 950 Chinese nationals were caught at the border compared to 73 in the previous year, and from October through December, the Border Patrol agents at the southern border encountered over 700,000 migrants.
