FIRST ON FOX: A group of Republican lawmakers is warning the Biden administration about an increase in the number of Chinese nationals crossing the southern border, saying it demonstrates their “worst fears” about what they see as weakening law enforcement under the administration.
The 20 lawmakers, led by Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., highlight “the dramatic increase in encounters at our nation's borders with individuals included in the Terrorist Detection Data Set (TSDS) and “the unprecedented and unexplained increase in Chinese citizens, largely adult males, crossing illegally.”
“These events demonstrate our worst fears: the weakening of our borders and the deliberate lack of enforcement of immigration laws have encouraged America's adversaries to exploit this national security vulnerability,” they say.
ILLEGAL CHINESE, JORDAN AND TURKISH IMMIGRANTS TRAPPED IN LARGE NUMBERS AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER
Chinese migrants are detained by Customs and Border Protection at the US-Mexico border on November 11, 2023, in Jacumba, California. (Nick Ut/Getty Images)
On 3,500 Chinese citizens were found illegally crossing the southern border in May, sources told Fox News last week.
The number of Chinese citizens has increased tremendously since 2021. There were 1,970 encounters in fiscal year 2022 and more than 24,000 in fiscal year 2023, and there have been more than 24,200 encounters in this fiscal year so far.
Meanwhile, of those in 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 the year fiscal 2023 and 98 in fiscal year 2022.
Republicans argue that a “strained” system has been exacerbated by the expansion of the CBP One app to allow immigrants arriving at ports of entry to schedule appointments to obtain permission to enter the U.S. Currently, around About 1,500 immigrants can schedule an appointment each day. potentially obtain parole to enter the U.S. Lawmakers point to reports showing Mexican cartels have used a private network to schedule asylum appointments.
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A Chinese migrant speaks with a Border Patrol officer after crossing the Rio Grande into the US. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“Mexican cartels reportedly charge up to $70,000 to smuggle Chinese citizens, compared to between $8,000 and $15,000 for other foreigners. Last year, 86% of Chinese citizens entering the United States were single adults,” said.
They describe the entry of illegal Chinese immigrants as a “major national security concern.”
“Findings by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Department of Defense described more than 100 incidents in which Chinese nationals were caught spying on US military installations and other sensitive sites of national importance,” they say.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM FOREIGN ADVERSARY REACH NEW HIGH AMID NATIONAL SECURITY FEARS
“In fact, the FBI has stated that it opens a new China-related counterintelligence investigation every 12 hours,” they say. “However, CBP continues to weaken the screening process, including reducing the list of questions required for Chinese citizens from 40 questions to 5 questions, which will further increase the likelihood that dangerous individuals will go undetected.”
Lawmakers asked a series of questions, including how many Chinese nationals had 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 have been released into the country. US
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The letter comes as President Biden announced a new order to restrict asylum for illegal immigrants crossing the southern border when numbers rise above a certain level. Republicans have dismissed that order as “too little, too late.”
