Chinese nationals crossing into US from Mexico border reaches new high, sparking national security concerns

The number of Chinese migrants entering the US at the southern border has reached a record high — sparking national security concerns over possible spies.

Customs and Border Protection officials apprehended 24,048 Chinese citizens at the border with Mexico over the 2023 fiscal year ending in September — more than 12 times the 1,970 arrests in the previous fiscal year.

It is also a more than 7,000% increase from 2021, when just 323 Chinese nationals crossed the border during strict pandemic travel bans and lockdowns.

The trend further highlights how migrants worldwide are aware of the disastrous controls at the US border — while also increasing fears of possible Chinese spies sneaking in while hiding with regular migrants.

“Clearly that border is a big opportunity,” Rebecca Grant, a national security analyst at IRIS Independent Research, recently told Newsweek.

“Some of those people want to come here and have a better way of life, but I think some of those Chinese [nationals] quite possibly are here to spy and report back at a minimum,” she warned.

In fact, Grant said she is “99% certain that at least a little bit of this is [the] Chinese military infiltrating for reasons harmful to our national security.

“Is it one person, is it a hundred, is it a thousand — we don’t know, but the fact that we have to ask this question is outrageous,” she told the outlet.

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Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), the chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, sounded the alarm on the wave of Chinese migrants entering the United States in June — claiming that a majority are military-age men with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party and People’s Liberation Army.

In response, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the department uses biometric and biographical information on those encountered at the border “to identify potential terrorists or criminals and prevent their release into the US,” according to Newsweek.

The spokesperson also stressed that “anyone who poses a national security or public safety threat is detained and not released into the United States.”

But Grant said she still has concerns.

“We know that China is using everything that they have, every bit of espionage, to spy on our military and our high technology,” she told Newsweek last month.

“And we know China’s government is not our friend, so this dramatic upswing, I think it could definitely present a potential national security risk.”

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Those familiar with the new Chinese migrants, however, say they are trying to flee an oppressive Communist regime that has become even more restrictive since the global pandemic.

“This wave of emigration reflects despair toward China,” said Cai Xia, editor-in-chief of online commentary site Yibao and a former professor at Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing who now lives in the US.

“They’ve lost hope for the future of the country.”

They see the US as a “beacon on the hill where people seek refuge from oppression,” according to Renata Castro, an immigration attorney who founded USA 4 ALL.

“The movement of Chinese individuals through the border is consistent with the situation on the ground in China — less financial opportunity, and most importantly, a growing oppression by the Chinese government,” she told Arizona Family.

To gain entry into the US for humanitarian reasons via the southern border, migrants have to display a credible fear of harm if they return to their home country.

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But a number of migrants who spoke to the LA times in July were open about their decision to come to the US being economic.

One woman who gave her name as Sophia said she was “just getting by” at her job in China and “wanted to escape the social stigma of being twice divorced.”

Another woman who only went by her last name, Dai, said she left China as she wasn’t getting much work as a cook or nanny.

Others appeared to be happy to live illegally in the shadow economy.

Shidong Liang, 36, told the newspaper he brought his wife and three children to the US but said he was “uncertain” whether he would apply for asylum. He also said he was “not optimistic” about getting permanent resident status, but still hoped he could find a good job and send his children to American schools.

The United Nations predicts China will lose 310,000 people through emigration this year, as it becomes increasingly popular on social media sites.

Castro has also warned she believes the trend of Chinese migration to the United States will continue until there is a change in the asylum process.

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Under current law, migrants have to be in the US to apply for asylum, something Castro said needs to change.

“Allow them to apply for asylum in their own country and have their cases heard by a consulate or an embassy,” she suggested.

Many of these migrants cross into the US at the border with San Diego, after traversing the dangerous Darien Gap in Panama.

In fact, Chinese people represented the fourth-highest nationality to cross the gap, after Venezuelans, Ecuadorians and Haitians, according to Panamanian immigration authorities.

They often first travel to Ecuador, where they can fly without a visa.

They then follow videos and messages posted online, which offer a step-by-step guide from previous migrants about how to get into the US illegally — including tips on what to pack, where to find guides, how to survive in the jungle, and what to do when they encounter US immigration officials.

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One migrant told Reuters how she came across “Baozai,” an internet personality who gained tens of thousands of followers on Chinese platforms Douyin and Xingua Video, as well as YouTube and Twitter — which are banned in China, but can be accessed through a virtual private network — posting videos documenting his migration to the US.

His original account was suspended on Douyin, owned by ByteDance — which also operates TikTok — but he is now posting under a new account with the same name focusing on his life in the US.

An X account called Lee Gaga posted in Mandarin on April 7 that smugglers are marking the location of US Border Patrol agents on maps and advising people on how to surrender to them.

“Of course, you can try and run, but that’s not recommended,” the post read.

He said he is living in New York City and was released from custody after only three days.

“I got lucky because the border policy has been good lately,” the X user said.

With Post wires