Chinese migrants to US driven by brutal economic, political policies

(NewsNation) — A surge of Chinese migrants continue crossing the southern U.S. border, many of whom are seeking asylum due to increasing economic instability and an authoritarian regime in China.

Border agents in the San Diego Sector have encountered more than 24,000 Chinese nationals so far this fiscal year, more than double the tally from last fiscal year, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

Nationally, CBP data indicates nearly 42,000 Chinese nationals have entered the U.S. illegally this fiscal year that began in October, nearing the record total number of 52,700 encounters in 2023. 

About half of those migrants were stopped along the southern U.S. border by Border Patrol agents, and most sought asylum. 

In a statement to NewsNation, Chinese Embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu said that the “Chinese government has always opposed illegal immigration and adopted various measures to stop illegal exits and severely crack down on criminals who organize smuggling and engage in illegal immigration activities.” 

Pengya added that “China has had good cooperation with some countries on the issue of repatriation of illegal immigrants and is willing to continue to strengthen cooperation with relevant countries on this issue.”

He said the nation would also be open to repatriating Chinese citizens who have been verified to be from mainland China. 

Economic unrest driving Chinese migrants to flee

China is dealing with a slew of economic concerns, and the nation’s leader, Xi Jinping, has stayed largely mum on how the government is planning to deal with a deepening property crisis, trillions of dollars of local government debt, youth unemployment and a rapidly aging society, according to international affairs think tank Atlantic Council. 

Much of the economic problems came after the country instilled its “zero-COVID” policy.

Under the policy, the nation implemented strict control to stop outbreaks, which included quarantining cases at government facilities and locking down buildings, communities or even entire cities for long periods, Reuters reported.

These strict measures came at a hefty cost. Lockdowns led to widespread shortages of food and other daily necessities in some cities, and residents had to endure repeated testing and limitations on travel, reported Voices of America.

Other policies unrelated to the pandemic also made conditions difficult for residents.

Xi put into place a new espionage law making it hard to do business and shifted capital and loans away from the private sector to state-owned enterprises, CNBC reported.

“The economy is slowing down, private investment is slowing down. There’s a massive flight of capital,” Yasheng Huang, a professor at MIT Sloan School, told CNBC.

But the country has presented itself as getting stronger economically.

According to official numbers released last week by Beijing, the economy grew 5.3% in the first quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, reported the Wall Street Journal.

But those numbers were disputed by Adm. John Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, during a press briefing Tuesday, the outlet reported.

He said that China’s economy “has drastically been reduced” because of a “real-estate market crash.”

“You go ask any economist if the Chinese are going to deliver 5.3% growth, and they will tell you, ‘No way,’” Aquilino said, according to the outlet.

Who is migrating from China? 

Most of the people making the long journey to the U.S. border appear to be Chinese citizens in the economic middle class whose livelihoods have been devastated by government policies during and after the pandemic, Meredith Oyen, an associate professor of history at the University of Maryland Baltimore County who studies Chinese migration, told NewsNation.

These are individuals who do not see any opportunities under China’s restrictive policies, she said. 

Zhang Kiayu, a Chinese migrant who made the journey to the U.S. in the spring of 2023, told NewsNation that he left China because of the strict COVID-19 policies. Kiayu said he was “yearning for American freedom.”

Oyen said only a few migrants are being actively persecuted under the Chinese regime, including Uyghur Muslims, Chinese Christians, followers of Falun Gong and Taiwan supporters, she said. 

How are Chinese migrants making the journey to the US  border? 

The transcontinental journey from China can take months and span several countries that don’t require visas for Chinese nationals, including Ecuador and Turkey. 

Most citizens obtain exit visas from China under the guise of going on vacation to these countries, Oyen said. 

The migrants make a treacherous journey by land to the U.S.-Mexican border largely through the help of illegal smugglers and other entrepreneurs who have set up businesses to cater to a growing number of Chinese migrants, Oyen said. 

For some, this journey includes trekking through the Darien Gap, a 10,000-square-mile tropical jungle that spans parts of Columbia and Panama and has no roads or cell phone reception, according to Human Rights Watch. 

Sources in Mexico have told NewsNation that some Chinese nationals are also flying into the Tijuana airport before following instructions from smugglers to cross the border. 

Border officials say some Chinese migrants are reportedly willing to pay cartels up to $35,000 for smuggling services. 

Why are Chinese migrants choosing the US and not other places? 

More than half of all Chinese asylum seekers are successful in making their claims in the U.S., often citing political oppression and lack of religious freedom in China. 

“China has a well-documented history of human rights abuses and documented history of persecution,” Oyen said. “Because there are so many well-established asylum cases providing precedence, it becomes easier for Chinese people to establish it than for those in other countries where precedence is more on economic or gang violence, which are not usually as well recognized.”

Beyond this, the U.S. is still perceived worldwide as a place where immigrants can make it, Oyen said. 

“The U.S. is famous for its integration of immigrants, and that’s one of the reasons why it’s desirable for people from all over the world, even in the face of having very strict border policies.”

Additionally, Chinese migrants can find information on where to cross the border and how to get access to transportation and smugglers who are experienced with bringing migrants on the journey north on TikTok and other platforms.

NewsNation’s Jorge Ventura, Aleksandra Bush and Stephanie Haines contributed to this report.

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