Chinese illegal immigrant surge at US southern border ‘proves our worst fears’: lawmakers

FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers is warning the Biden administration about a rise in Chinese nationals coming across the southern border, claiming it proves their "worst fears" about what they see as a weakening of enforcement under the administration.

The 20 lawmakers, led by Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., highlights "the dramatic rise in encounters at our nation’s borders with individuals on the Terrorist Screening Data Set (TSDS) and the unprecedented, otherwise unexplained rise in Chinese nationals – largely adult males – crossing illegally."

"These developments prove our worst fears: the weakening of our borders and willful lack of enforcement of immigration laws has encouraged America’s adversaries to exploit this national security vulnerability," they say.

CHINESE, JORDANIAN, TURKISH ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAUGHT IN LARGE NUMBERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER

Chinese migrants are detained by Customs and Border Protection at the U.S.-Mexico border, Nov 11, 2023, in Jacumba, California. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)

Over 3,500 Chinese nationals were encountered crossing the southern border illegally in May, sources told Fox News last week. 

The number of Chinese nationals has increased enormously since 2021. There were 1,970 encounters in FY 2022 and over 24,000 in FY 2023, and so far there have been over 24,200 encounters this fiscal year.

Meanwhile, of those on the TSDS, which includes terrorist identities and additional individuals who pose a potential threat, there have so far been 80 encounters of people between ports of entry this year by Border Patrol, compared to 172 in fiscal year 2023 and 98 in fiscal 2022.

The Republicans argue that a "strained" system has been exacerbated by the expansion of the CBP One app to allow migrants arriving at ports of entry to make appointments to be paroled into the U.S. Currently, around 1,500 migrants are allowed to schedule an appointment each day to potentially be paroled into the U.S. The lawmakers point to reporting showing that Mexican cartels have used a private network to schedule asylum appointments. 

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A Chinese migrant speaks to a Border Patrol officer after crossing the Rio Grande into the U.S. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

"Mexican cartels reportedly charge as much as $70,000 to smuggle Chinese nationals, compared to $8,000 to $15,000 for other aliens. Last year, 86% of Chinese nationals entering the US were single adults," he said.

They describe the entrance of Chinese illegal immigrants as a "major national security concern."

"Findings from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Defense outlined over 100 incidents in which Chinese nationals have been caught spying at U.S. military installations and other sensitive sites with national importance," they say.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY HIT NEW HIGH AMID NATIONAL SECURITY FEARS 

"In fact, the FBI has stated that they open a new China related counter-intelligence investigation every 12 hours," they say. "However, CBP continues to weaken the screening process, including reducing the required question list for Chinese nationals from 40 questions to 5 questions, which will further increase the probability of dangerous individuals being undetected."

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The lawmakers asked a series of questions, including how many Chinese nationals have been found to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party, how many used CBP One to schedule their entry into the U.S., and how many have been deported and how many released into the U.S.

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The letter comes as President Biden has announced a new order to restrict asylum for illegal immigrants coming across the southern border when numbers rise above a certain level. Republicans have dismissed that order as "too little, too late."