Surge in Chinese Migrants Crossing U.S. Southern Border
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It has been revealed that the number of Chinese people attempting to illegally immigrate to the United States via Mexico is rapidly increasing.
On the 8th (local time), CNN reported that more than 31,000 Chinese people were caught by authorities while trying to illegally enter the United States from Mexico between January and November last year.
Although the number of Chinese people attempting to illegally enter the country is less than those from Mexico, Venezuela, and Guatemala, it is a 20-fold increase considering that an average of only 1,500 people were caught for illegal immigration over the past decade.
On the 2nd, the Panamanian Public Safety Department also announced that among the 520,850 immigrants who crossed the ‘Darien Gap’, a tropical rainforest region located in the north of Colombia and the south of Panama, last year 25,344 were Chinese nationals, the fourth largest after Venezuela, Ecuador, and Haiti.
The number of Chinese people entering Ecuador which is considered a gateway to entering the United States by land, increased from 13,000 in 2022 to over 45,000 between January and November last year. It is known that the number of businesses and social networking service (SNS) accounts that arrange U.S. entry for Chinese people is also rapidly increasing in line with this trend.
CNN pointed to China’s slow economic recovery, high youth unemployment rate, and the Communist Party’s strict social control as the causes of this phenomenon. Although about a year has passed since the lifting of the three-year COVID-19 lockdown, the Chinese economy is still struggling due to the real estate market crisis, high local government debt, and the government’s crackdown on the private sector.
Last year, youth unemployment already exceeded 20%, and the Chinese government even stopped announcing youth unemployment statistics amid worsening economic conditions. Victor Shih, director of the ’21st Century China Center’ at the University of California, San Diego campus stated, “It’s surprising that so many people are embarking on a dangerous journey to South America and the United States at a politically stable time,” and “this implies that many citizens are facing serious economic difficulties.”
In addition, there have been consistent claims that repression against religions and ethnic minorities in China has strengthened under the regime of President Xi Jinping, which has lasted for more than 10 years. According to UN data, the number of Chinese people worldwide who want political asylum increased sharply from 25,000 in 2013 to more than 120,000 in the first half of last year, during President Xi’s tenure.
In response to CNN’s report, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated through a statement that “it opposes any attempt at illegal immigration” and expressed its willingness to actively cooperate with the international community on the issue of illegal immigration.
By. Mi Ri Sun
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