The United States sends charter flights to repatriate undocumented Chinese immigrants for the second time this year

In recent years, the number of undocumented immigrants from China has surged, leading the United States to send back another group of Chinese migrants on government-chartered flights, marking the second such operation in just four months. According to data from the Pew Research Center, approximately 90,000 Chinese citizens entered the U.S. in 2022, making China the third-largest source of immigrants to the country after Mexico and India. Earlier this week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the latest round of repatriations.

Alejandro Mayorkas, the Secretary of Homeland Security, stated in a press release on October 17, “Individuals considering immigration should not fall for the lies of human traffickers. Chinese citizens who lack legal grounds to remain in the U.S. will be quickly deported. The DHS will continue to strengthen measures against individuals who enter our country illegally and enforce U.S. law.”

In August 2022, China suspended its cooperation with the U.S. on deportations, leading to a sharp increase in the number of Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. from Mexico. In 2023, U.S. border officials arrested over 37,000 Chinese citizens at the southern border, a tenfold increase compared to 2022. However, China has resumed cooperation this year to facilitate repatriation.

The U.S. Embassy in China issued a statement in May, noting, “In recent years, Chinese law enforcement has severely cracked down on crimes that threaten national border security, employing a strong stance against various smuggling organizations and criminals. Our efforts have yielded significant results. Simultaneously, Chinese enforcement agencies engage in regular cooperation with relevant countries to combat cross-border human trafficking activities, repatriate illegal immigrants, and maintain order in international personnel entry and exit.”

The latest repatriation flight departed on October 15, marking the second round of deportations of Chinese citizens this year. The first repatriation occurred in June, and it was the largest operation since 2018, conducted in collaboration with China’s National Immigration Administration.

In June, President Biden issued an executive order stating that if weekly illegal border crossings exceed an average of 2,500 per day, the U.S. would temporarily halt certain non-citizens from crossing the southern border and seeking asylum. Migrants deported under this order will be barred from re-entering the U.S. for at least five years and may face criminal charges. Border Patrol officials reported that incidents have since decreased by over 55%.

As of the end of August, the DHS had scheduled more than 398 international repatriation flights to over 140 countries, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Uzbekistan, India, and China. Consequently, the number of individuals removed or deported in the 2024 fiscal year is the highest since the 2010 fiscal year, with ongoing efforts to increase repatriation flights.