DHS Announces Removal Flight of Illegal Immigrants from China
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in a press release on Tuesday that it has deported a significant number of Chinese illegal immigrants over the weekend, sending them back to China on a chartered flight. This marks the first large charter flight of Chinese illegal immigrants since 2018.
DHS did not specify the exact number of individuals deported, emphasizing that the action is part of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ “continued efforts to engage the [People’s Republic of China] on areas of mutual interest.”
“We will continue to enforce our immigration laws and remove individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States,” Mayorkas announced in a press release. “People should not believe the lies of smugglers.”
The press release noted that, “Together, the United States and PRC are working to reduce and deter irregular migration and to disrupt illicit human smuggling through expanded law enforcement efforts.” DHS further explained that it was working with China to have more deportation flights in the future, but it did not specify a timeline on when more Chinese illegal immigrants would be deported.
“DHS regularly engages counterparts throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept repatriations of nationals without a lawful basis to remain in the United States and take other steps to reduce irregular migration, promote safe, lawful, and orderly pathways, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for abusing our lawful trade and travel systems and the smuggling and exploitation of vulnerable people,” the statement claimed.
The announcement comes amid reports highlighting the alarming number of Chinese illegal immigrants entering the country through the southern border. CNN previously reported that in the first 11 months of 2023, 31,000 Chinese nationals were apprehended by Border Patrol at the US-Mexico border, a figure higher than the previous ten years combined.
The Biden administration has also faced scrutiny following revelations that it ordered Border Patrol agents to loosen restrictions on detained migrants from China. Earlier this year, a report by the Daily Caller revealed that border patrol agents have been instructed to reduce the number of interview questions asked to detained Chinese migrants.
