SAN DIEGO, Calif. — The number of Chinese immigrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has hit a new record with 24,200 apprehended in the past six months. Most of them are in San Diego County, California. According to federal data.
This huge influx already equals the number of Chinese nationals arrested for entering the United States illegally in 2023, which itself sets a record higher than the previous decade combined.
Taking advantage of holes in the border wall and the Biden administration’s lax enforcement of border policies, Chinese people are buying plane tickets to Mexico and paying smugglers to transport them to areas where they can most easily cross into California. There is.
Overwhelming Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents then arrested the individuals, most of them single men, and detained them for 24 to 48 hours for processing, before releasing them to the United States to proceed with their asylum claims, according to sources. He says he will.
Security concerns were heightened in January when it was revealed that CBP had cut the number of questions asked of processors from about 40 to just five because it was overwhelmed by the number of Chinese nationals it was arresting.
Families of Chinese immigrants who have just crossed the border in recent days told the Post that unlike migrants from countries like Haiti or Venezuela, where security has all but collapsed, there is no immediate risk of being forced to leave their homeland. He said there was no problem.
They said they spent about $75,000 coming to the U.S. with money earned from business in China after hearing success stories from relatives who had already gone to the United States.
“We started from Thailand and Turkey and followed the route shared on social media,” they said.
Another group of Chinese migrants waiting for Border Patrol agents at a remote campo in the Mountain Empire region of southeastern San Diego County told the Post they traveled weeks from China and eventually headed to New York. .
Migrants wait to be found and picked up by Border Patrol agents, who then take them into custody across dangerous mountainous terrain, where they are tested to see if they have genuine claims for asylum.
In addition to the 24,000 people arrested for illegal entry, 17,700 Chinese immigrants were legally allowed to enter the United States after making entry arrangements through the CBP One mobile app.
“We have families who have experienced political repression at the hands of the Chinese government, many of whom are political dissidents,” immigration lawyer Erica Pinheiro previously told the Post.
“We keep asylum seekers in poverty and [that] They’re just coming to America for economic opportunity, but the people I’m meeting are [at the San Diego] People who cross borders tend to be at least middle class, if not upper middle class. ”
People released from Border Patrol custody are taken by bus to San Diego and left at a local trolley station. There, a group of Chinese men operate unofficial “taxi” services for people from their homeland.
The men told the Post they were there to help members of their community because they don’t speak English and don’t know where to go.
“When they first come here, they don’t understand the language and are very scared. Once they see us, they will feel at ease,” one Chinese man waiting for migrants told the Post.
“A Chinese man just got off the bus and had his cell phone, wallet and ID stolen in Mexico. Tonight I will arrange accommodation and treat him to food. I will also help you get in touch,” he said through a translation app.
However, the same group tried to prevent the Post from taking photos and documenting it.
Local officials also expressed concern about unofficial and unauthorized taxi routes, particularly for the safety of vulnerable local communities and migrants themselves.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said, “I’m very concerned about the fact that some Chinese taxi drivers are not only picking up people here, but they’re picking up only Chinese people, mostly Chinese women.” “We’re doing it,” El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells told the Post.
“There is no coordinated effort, no one from the federal government, no one from the City of San Diego, no one from the County of San Diego. [to help] So they are a confused and vulnerable population,” San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told the Post.
