Chinese nationals are crossing the US-Mexico border into the US in unprecedented numbers this year, with the first few months of fiscal 2023 already dwarfing the total for 2022.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports that nearly 2,000 Chinese nationals crossed the border in fiscal 2022, but there have already been 4,300 encounters in the first few months of fiscal 2023, according to federal data.
The wave of Chinese migrants comes as the country balks at Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ongoing crackdown on freedoms. China has seen a major wave of protests in recent months following Xi’s widespread COVID-19 lockdowns.
“So the word’s out, right?” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Texas, told Axios. “If you can get to our southern border, you have a pretty good chance of getting in, and that’s changed the demographics.”
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Border Patrol officers watch migrants at the US-Mexico border in Arizona as they await clearance. (Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images)
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s tough policies have prompted more and more Chinese citizens to flee the country, activists said. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
Republicans have accused President Biden of refusing to enforce US border policy, which they say sends the message to other migrants that the US border is open.
Biden has faced a record number of border crossings since taking office in 2021. In his first month in office, there were 100,000 encounters with migrants, according to CBP data. However, the CBP now tracks about 230,000 encounters with migrants each month.
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A federal judge in Florida struck down that Biden administration Using probation to mass release migrants to the US earlier this month, who said the practice was unlawful and accused the government of turning the border into a “meaningless line in the sand”.
Judge T. Kent Wetherell ruled in response to a Florida state lawsuit, arguing that the Biden administration had “effectively reduced the Southwest border to a meaningless line in the sand and little more than a speed bump for aliens pouring into the country.”
President Biden’s administration has been monitoring an unprecedented surge in illegal immigration at the US-Mexico border. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
The Biden administration recorded 1.7 million encounters with migrants in 2021, followed by 2.3 million encounters in 2022. More are expected in 2023.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report.
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