Border Patrol sector stops hundreds of Chinese illegal immigrants in just two days as numbers soar (2024)

One Border Patrol Sector has seen over two hundred Chinese migrants on two separate days this week, which by itself outpaces the entire number of total Chinese migrants encountered in Fiscal Year 2021.

A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source told Fox News that on May 1 and May 2, Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector apprehended over 200 Chinese nationals each day.

On Thursday, agents encountered 223 migrants, after encountering 262 on Wednesday.

That means that more Chinese illegal immigrants crossed illegally into the sector in two days than across the entire southern border in all of FY 21, – where 342 migrants were encountered.

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A Chinese migrant speaks to a border patrol officer before being processed after crossing the Rio Grande into the U.S. (Brandon Bell)

Numbers have increased dramatically since FY 21. There were 1,970 encounters in FY 2022, over 24,000 in FY 2023 and so far there have been over 24,200 encounters so far this fiscal year.

Fox News reported last month that the number of Chinese nationals entering illegally has surged by over 6,300% since FY 2021.

Some migrants previously told Fox News that they are seeking a better life in the United States.

"My English is not very good, and I don't know anyone in the United States," one migrant said in March. "Once I get to the United States, I know I have to start all over again. But I want to live a good life in the future, and I want my children to be educated well. I strive to take root in the United States as soon as possible."

But some lawmakers have raised concerns about potential espionage by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the movement of fentanyl into the U.S. – which is often created in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then smuggled across the land border.

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"There have been numerous documented instances of Chinese nationals, at the direction of the CCP, engaging in espionage, stealing military and economic secrets," lawmakers, led by Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., said last year.

Earlier this year, a Chinese illegal immigrant was detained in California after entering a Marine Corps base without authorization and ignoring orders to leave. In response to that incident, CBP has stressed that there will be consequences for those who enter the U.S. illegally, including those from China.

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Migrants in line in Jacumba, California. Border authorities are contending with an influx of Chinese migrants in a key border sector. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

"DHS continues to enforce United States immigration laws, expanding lawful pathways while strengthening enforcement consequences for those who cross our border unlawfully," the agency said.

"Individuals and families without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. are subject to removal pursuant to Title 8 authorities and are subject to a minimum five-year bar on reapplying for admission and potential criminal prosecution if they subsequently re-enter without authorization."

However, the overwhelming majority of the Chinese are mass released as China is not cooperative with deportation flights from the U.S.

At a recent House Appropriations Committee hearing, acting ICE Director Patrick Lechleitner was asked by Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., to identify the top countries that are the most difficult to send back their nationals who are being deported from the U.S.

"We've got Bhutan, top of the list there, Cambodia, they've been challenging, the People’s Republic of China, although we’ve had some recent cautiously optimistic progress with the Chinese, so I want to say it’s moving in the right direction there."

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He also said that ICE is working with both other DHS agencies and the State Department in trying to rectify recalcitrant countries, but he noted that "it’s not an easy issue for them either," given other factors, including geopolitical issues.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently told lawmakers in the House that there had recently been one deportation flight to China after he had spoken to officials in the communist country.