A record number of Chinese nationals have crossed the border illegally across the country so far this year, an increase of nearly 8,000% from 2021, according to statistics released this week.
Customs and Border Protection has updated its April encounter numbers, revealing that Border Patrol had 27,583 encounters with Chinese nationals this fiscal year, which began in October.
In comparison, there were 24,125 people in FY2023, 1,987 in FY2022, and only 342 in FY2021.
Illegal immigration from this foreign enemy is increasing across the border.
Immigrants line up in Jacumba, California. Border authorities are battling an influx of Chinese migrants in key border areas. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
This means that the number of Chinese nationals entering the country illegally has increased by 7,965% since 2021. Of the 27,583 people so far in the current fiscal year 2024, 85%, or 23,622, were single adults.
More than 90% of the 2024 transits occurred in the San Diego area. There were also more than 1,200 encounters in the first eight days of May, averaging more than 150 a day.
Republicans and some border officials have expressed concerns about the potential for espionage, as well as the smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl. Republican lawmakers on the House Homeland Security subcommittee are holding a hearing on the issue Thursday titled “Security Risks: Unprecedented Surge in Chinese Illegal Immigration.”
Democrats dismissed the hearing, calling it “another Republican border ‘hearing’ with invasion rhetoric and fear-mongering” on their website.
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A Chinese immigrant speaks with a Border Patrol agent before being processed after crossing the Rio Grande into the United States. (Brandon Bell)
A committee spokesperson told Fox News Digital this week that the minority believes Republicans will use the hearing to “use hyperbolic and xenophobic rhetoric to scare away ‘foreign invasion’ at the border.” He said he was looking forward to it.
“However, the facts show that changes in Chinese immigration reflect a deterioration in China’s economic and political situation and broader changes in global migration patterns,” they said. “These changes require bipartisan legislation and action from Congress, including additional funding for border security, which Republicans have consistently opposed or blocked.”
Republicans on the committee called the negative attitude “unfortunate.”
Dan Bishop, chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability, told FOX News Digital: “It’s disappointing that House Democrats’ reaction to this hearing is more like Chinese state media than anything else.”
“This fiscal year, Border Patrol agents have already arrested more Chinese nationals on our southwestern border than from 2007 to 2020 combined,” he said. “The influx of record numbers of individuals from hostile countries into our country without scrutiny or oversight is deeply concerning to everyone, regardless of political party. There is a lack of interest in combating the threat, which is unfortunate but not surprising.” ”
Overall, the number of migrants encountered decreased slightly in April. In April, there were 179,725 encounters across the southern border, compared to 211,992 in April 2023 and 189,357 in March.
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