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By Nick Mordowanec
Staff Writer
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The number of Chinese migrants attempting to enter California recently hit a four-month high, continuing concerns of lawmakers who have urged the federal government to better address backchannels permitting more Chinese migration.
Chinese migrant encounters have escalated each year under the Biden administration, increasing from 4,923 in the 2022 fiscal year to 14,603 in the 2023 fiscal year. The current fiscal year numbers, which run from October to September, total 32,939 as of May, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
The 3,733 encounters in May are the highest since January, when federal agents saw 4,501 attempted crossings. December's numbers this fiscal year are the highest so far, totaling 6,132.
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Numbers of Chinese migrants nationwide have also grown exponentially year-over-year, with numbers between October and May (55,922) already surpassing the entire 2023 fiscal year total of 52,700. Chinese border encounters nearly doubled between 2022 (27,756) and 2023.
Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin posted a video earlier this week of Chinese migrants "crossing illegally" in Jacumba, California, with the majority giving themselves up to Border Patrol agents in hope of being allowed to stay in the U.S.
"This is a matter of national security and we have people crossing the border from countries that want to cause us harm," San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond told Newsweek via email on Friday. "There's little to no vetting occurring and we are now seeing horrific crimes taking place from these consequences."
Ecuador has also stiffened its once accommodating policy towards Chinese nationals, as the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced this week it would suspend its visa-waiver policy for China due to the South American country being utilized as a transit stop on nationals' way to the U.S. border.
Ecuador's Ministry of Foreign Affairs cited an "unusual increase in irregular migratory flows of Chinese citizens" who have overstayed their visa exemption period or are using Ecuador as a launch point for "other destinations in the hemisphere."
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Roughly 48,381 Chinese nationals entered the country last year, only 24,240 departed, indicating that 24,141 Chinese nationals either remained illegally or left through unauthorized routes, according to Ecuadorian customs data—the most of any nationality.
The country is the only one in South America to offer a 90-day visa policy, dating back to 2016 when a mutual visa exemption agreement was hatched between both nations.
On March 27, a source within CBP told Newsweek that a Chinese national was taken into custody after the individual had apparently snuck into the 29 Palms Marine Base without authorization.
The incident occurred within the El Centro Sector, located in Southern California's Imperial Valley, which covers 410 square miles and 70 miles of international border.
That prompted renewed concerns from U.S. lawmakers about illegal entries made by Chinese nationals through other pathways.
Republican Senators Joni Ernst if Iowa and Marco Rubio of Florida expressed concerns to Newsweek earlier this year regarding nationals from the People's Republic of China (PRC) entering Guam through the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI).
In 2009, U.S. CBP adopted the Guam-CNMI Visa Waiver Program that allows individuals to enter the CNMI through places like Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, for two-week periods without long-term documentation.
The CNMI is about 120 miles north of Guam, a U.S. territory, 1,500 miles east of the Philippines, and just over three hours from Tokyo by plane.
"The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has already proven they will stop at nothing to infiltrate the United States, and that threat is increasing every day as Chinese nationals use a visa loophole to gain access to our critical military installations in Guam," Ernst told Newsweek in April.
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