The Biden administration significantly simplified the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants in April 2023, according to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
An email sent by a CBP supervisor in April 2023 to a “master list” of approximately 500 Border Patrol agents dramatically increased the number of interview questions for Chinese immigrants arrested after entering the country illegally, from approximately 40 to 20. has directed CBP officials to reduce the number of Just five. The “headquarters guidance” comes as border officials are overwhelmed by near-record numbers of illegal immigrants. (Related: Exclusive: Chinese Communist Party-affiliated company plans to build large-scale facility near sensitive US military facility)
While this reduction in the interview process sped up the release of illegal Chinese immigrants to the United States, it also made it more difficult for CBP agents to identify national security threats, said a former CBP deputy patrol officer. JJ Carell told DCNF after the investigation. Email.
“This policy change has accelerated the processing time for illegal Chinese immigrants. This does not make America safer,” Carell said. “The end result will be the release of still dangerous Chinese illegal immigrants into the United States.”
“This is just the government covering their butts, so you can say the government has done their due diligence,” Carell said. “I think the government is aware of the threat of Chinese soldiers and spies pouring into America and wants to identify these people. But the same government is trying to stop the influx of illegal aliens and Chinese people. They are not doing it, they are just “bad people”, and that is impossible. ”
Previously, officers may have spent hours scrutinizing a single Chinese illegal immigrant, but the new guidance streamlines the vetting process by reducing the number of questions officers must ask, thereby allowing U.S. The influx of illegal Chinese immigrants into the country will accelerate, Karel said.
A former law enforcement official who provided emails to DCNF said the human smuggling operation quickly adapted to these new guidelines and coached Chinese illegal immigrants on how to answer CBP's short list of questions.
“We decided on a location almost immediately.” [the Chinese illegal immigrants] He knew what to say and what not to say,” said the former official, who requested anonymity for fear of U.S. government retaliation.
Mr Carell described the smuggling operation as “highly coordinated”. He told DCNF that undocumented immigrants are “mentored from the beginning of their journey.”
“The story is the same,” Carell said. “They just have different streets and names because they are from different countries.”
The April 2023 CBP email also states that illegal Chinese immigrants who pass five “basic questions” from field personnel may be released into the interior of the United States.
“If you do not alert us to the above, there is no need to further delay your current processing path (NTA/OR),” the email states.
“NTA/OR” is an abbreviation for “Notification to Appear”/”Order of Recognizance”. according to to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In practice, this would allow illegal Chinese immigrants to enter the United States with court dates that are years in the future, former officials said. By November 2023, the U.S. immigration court backlog exceeded 3 million cases, an all-time high.
Since 2022, CBP has encountered approximately 95,000 Chinese illegal immigrants at the border. according to Go to CBP data. From 2022 to 2023, CBP encounters with Chinese illegal immigrants jumped by more than 1,100%. according to In government records.
After answering officials' “basic questions,” illegal Chinese immigrants are “sent anywhere, whether or not they were contracted through Catholic Charities or other nonprofit organizations,” the former official said. Ta.
“Basic questions”
The new guidance instructs agents to ask five “basic questions” related to “military service,” “university,” “POB/region,” “employment,” and “political affiliation.” Former officials told DCNF that all questions are aimed at determining whether illegal Chinese immigrants pose a national security threat.
“They are really trying to determine any connections to terrorism or to the government itself,” the former official said.
Questions regarding “military service,” “university,” “employment,” and “political party” are intended to reveal potential ties to the Chinese government, the Chinese Communist Party, or the Chinese military. The “POB/region” question is related to terrorism, former officials told DCNF.
“If there is a 'yes' to any of the above, they will be queried and forwarded to: [redacted] “For an in-depth interview by the Tactical Terrorism Response Team,” the April 2023 email said.
The Tactical Terrorism Response Team (TTRT) is “part of the Sector Intelligence Division” and is responsible for conducting thorough interrogations of illegal Chinese immigrants with possible ties to terrorism or the Chinese government, a former official said. said.
“Think of TTRT as a vetting unit before an individual is determined to be a national security risk or terrorist,” Carrell, a former CBP official, told DCNF. “If the TTRT determines that the individual poses a security risk, the individual will be handed over to the Joint Terrorism Task Force for further investigation and deportation.”
Despite these concerns, DHS' Special Interest Aliens (SIA) list does not include immigrants from China.
SIAs are defined as “non-U.S. persons who, based on analysis of their travel patterns, may pose a national security risk to the United States or its national interests.” according to To D.H.S. “In many cases, such individuals or groups have adopted travel patterns that are known or assessed to be potentially associated with terrorism. includes an examination of travel patterns, origins, and/or travel segments relevant to the current assessment of the threat environment.
[Screenshot/YouTube/AssociatedPress]
'Stuck'
The screening system for Chinese illegal immigrants that was in place before the April 2023 email was overwhelmed by the recent surge in southern border crossings, former law enforcement officials told DCNF.
Under the previous system, it took up to four hours to process undocumented Chinese immigrants, former officials told DCNF.
“Initially, what was happening was either at the station level (if you were too stuck to take them to the processing center) or at the sector level of the processing center.Then the agent needed to do the following: “It took each person nearly four hours to go through the long list of questions,” said the former official.
Carrell said CBP's vetting process was much stricter against illegal Chinese immigrants during the Trump administration.
“If I receive a Chinese person, we enter them into the DHS database and look at their contents. [the National Crime Information Center] As for their criminal history in the United States, and nine out of 10 have never been to the United States, they will come back clean,'' Carell told DCNF. “Then I set that person up for deportation; [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] would bring him or her back to China. I would never in a million years have any intention of processing that Chinese person and releasing him to America. ”
“Now that person is interviewed, entered into a database, and then simply released onto the street,” Carell said.
DCNF reviewed a copy of CBP's longer questionnaire for Chinese illegal immigrants, which former officials also shared.
Field officials no longer have to use lengthy questionnaires of about 40 questions to scrutinize Chinese illegal immigrants, but TTRT still uses its questionnaires to scrutinize those who fail five “basic questions.” former officials said.
In addition to the five “basic questions,” CBP's lengthy questionnaire also asks Chinese illegal immigrants about “prior arrest,” “weapons/firearms handling,” “smuggling fees,” and various other matters. are instructed to do so.
DHS and CBP did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news distribution service, is available free of charge to legitimate news publishers with large audiences. All republished articles must include our logo, reporter byline, and DCNF affiliation. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at [email protected].
