Surge in CHINESE NATIONALS apprehended at the southern border sparks national security concerns

By arseniotoledo // 2024-10-21

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The number of Chinese illegal immigrants apprehended along the U.S. border with Mexico has increased significantly over the past two years. Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicates that encounters with Chinese migrants at the southwestern border have been rising since the 2021 fiscal year, when about 450 Chinese migrants were encountered at the border. In 2022, that number jumped to 2,176. In 2023, the number massively skyrocketed to 24,314 encounters, including over 3,000 children. In 2024, the number of Chinese migrants encountered continued to rise with 36,920 encounters right up until Aug. 31 – including 5,878 minors, 152 of them unaccompanied. Data from September, the final month in the 2024 fiscal year, has yet to be compiled. (Related: Report: Groups of military-age males from China and South America are illegally entering the United States.) CBP noted that the rising number of Chinese nationals entering the U.S. comes at a time when the number of border crossings by most nationalities are rising in general across the board.

Influx of illegal Chinese nationals presents national security threat to the U.S.

U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-TN), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, pinned the blame on the "unprecedented number of Chinese nationals now illegally crossing our border" squarely on the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for their "policy of mass catch-and-release." "One chief patrol agent told my committee last year that, in his experience, the vast majority of Chinese nationals are coming for 'work or a better life,' which is not a valid ground for claiming asylum," he said. "Yet, the majority are still being released into the interior anyway." The congressman further warned that the massive influx of Chinese nationals poses a grave national security threat to the U.S., given the willingness of the Chinese Communist Party to undermine American security. This explains why the rise in Chinese nationals entering the U.S. stands out, even though border crossings from various other nationalities have also risen. Beijing's status as an adversarial state to Washington suggests that at least some of these Chinese nationals may be coming to the U.S. to undermine the country. The massive influx further undermines the actual asylum seekers among the Chinese nationals. Carolyn Nash, Asia advocacy director for Amnesty International USA, told Newsweek that the CBP does not confirm the identity of Chinese nationals slated for deportation. "Amnesty is concerned with the resumption of deportation flights between the U.S. and China. CBP does not track ethnicity, leaving authorities no way to confirm whether the U.S. is returning Hongkongers, Uyghurs or other vulnerable minorities," she said. "While we can't speak with certainty to why individuals choose to make such a journey, there is a growing amount of investigative reporting that speaks to the intense economic impacts Chinese people reported experiencing under the zero-COVID policies, as well as asylum claims for religious freedom and LGBTQI rights." Nash added that "people seek refuge when they are denied safety and freedom at home." She pointed to the difficult social and economic conditions in China that are pushing people away, along with the lack of freedom of expression and harassment of critics and dissidents to Chinese President Xi Jinping's rule, as reasons for this. "China's government has made it unsafe to speak, to protest or to ask for a living wage. The Chinese people are paying the price of these draconian policies." Watch this clip of national security expert and analyst Rebeccah Heinrichs warning of how Chinese nationals are simply "walking across" the border. This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

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Influx of illegal Chinese nationals presents national security threat to the U.S.

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