On November 16, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) carried out the deportation of a significant number of undocumented Chinese migrants, sending them back to their home country.
A charter flight reportedly transported 109 Chinese nationals, according to sources from Newsweek.
In the past six months, there have been three significant chartered removal flights to China. The first flight saw over 100 migrants being returned in June, while the second flight deported 131 Chinese nationals in October. Now, with the third flight, more individuals are being sent back to China.
According to officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), they are actively enforcing immigration laws in the United States and imposing strict consequences for individuals who enter the country unlawfully or without authorization.
The statement highlights that this removal flight is a clear demonstration of the Department’s continuous collaboration with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and other international partners in effectively addressing irregular migration through the enforcement of immigration law.
In June, a significant deportation flight took place, marking the first major charter flight for deportations since 2018. This flight was organized in collaboration with China’s National Immigration Administration and transported a total of 116 Chinese nationals who had been living in the U.S. illegally. It served as the first notable deportation flight of the year.
Outgoing President Joe Biden recently issued a proclamation to temporarily suspend the entry of undocumented migrants across the southern border.
After the June 4 proclamation, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reported a significant decrease of over 52 percent in Border Patrol encounters.
In the past year, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has taken action to deport individuals without legal documentation from various countries. These include Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Uzbekistan, India, and China.
In the year Fiscal Year 2024, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported that there were more removals or returns of undocumented migrants than in any year since Fiscal Year 2010.
In 2022, China emerged as the third-largest provider of immigrants to the United States, with around 90,000 Chinese nationals entering the country, as reported by the Pew Research Center. This places China behind Mexico and India in terms of immigration numbers.
Human rights organizations express deep concerns regarding the perilous situation that vulnerable ethnic communities, like the Uyghurs, are currently facing.
According to Carolyn Nash, the Asia Advocacy Director at Amnesty International USA, there is concern regarding the resumption of deportation flights between the U.S. and China. Nash emphasized that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) does not keep track of ethnicity, making it impossible for authorities to verify if Hongkongers, Uyghurs, or other vulnerable minorities are being returned to their respective countries. Nash expressed these concerns to Newsweek, highlighting the need for transparency and accountability in these deportation processes.
According to Nash, an increasing number of Chinese individuals are arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border in search of asylum. However, the CBP One app, which is operated by Customs and Border Control and is designed to facilitate the submission of information by noncitizens who lack proper documentation and wish to enter the United States at land points of entry, does not offer Chinese language support. Amnesty International suggests that this language barrier is pushing Chinese nationals to resort to illegal entry.
According to the organization, under the current border policies, individuals can only seek safety by waiting for months for an appointment in the CBP One mobile application. However, this app is only accessible in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole, which poses a significant barrier for Chinese nationals who do not speak any of those languages. Consequently, they are compelled to cross into the U.S. irregularly, exposing themselves to extremely perilous situations such as crossing deserts or scaling border walls.