Homeland Security Deports 109 Chinese Illegal Immigrants on Charter Flight

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Washington on Aug. 12, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has confirmed that it deported a group of 109 Chinese nationals unlawfully present in the United States on a charter flight back to China on Nov. 16.

The department said in a Nov. 18 press release that the latest deportation marks the third charter flight to China in less than six months.

“This removal flight is yet another example of the Department’s ongoing cooperation with the PRC and other international partners to reduce and deter irregular migration through enforcement of immigration law,” it said, referring to communist China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

A total of 116 Chinese nationals were deported in the first flight, which occurred in June. The second flight, which occurred in October, removed 131 Chinese nationals.

Kristie Canegallo, Homeland Security’s acting deputy secretary, wrote on the social media platform X on Monday night that DHS has conducted more than 660 repatriation flights to more than 160 countries since June, a record high since fiscal year 2010.

“Our message is clear: individuals who lack a lawful basis to stay in America will be removed,” Canegallo said.

There has been a huge increase in Border Patrol arrests of illegal immigrant Chinese nationals at the border in recent years, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

CBP officials apprehended more than 24,300 Chinese citizens at the southern border during fiscal year 2023, more than 10 times the 2,176 apprehensions in the previous fiscal year. More than 38,200 Chinese nationals were apprehended in fiscal year 2024.

The United States and China restarted cooperation on the deportation of Chinese illegal immigrants in May, nearly two years after Beijing suspended the agreement in retaliation over then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) trip to Taiwan.

‘Grave Threats’

In July, Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), along with 16 House Republicans, sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, seeking answers about the status of illegal immigrants in the United States who come from countries such as China, that are considered uncooperative in repatriating their citizens.

The lawmakers pointed out that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 288 Chinese nationals from the United States in fiscal year 2023, a small number compared to the volume apprehended at the U.S.–Mexico border during the same period.

The lawmakers said DHS did not disclose whether the 116 Chinese nationals deported in June had criminal backgrounds, ties to espionage networks, or the specific reasons for their removal.

“This is concerning as China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pose grave threats to the United States’ economic and national security,” the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers requested more information from Mayorkas and Blinken, including the number of Chinese nationals released into the United States from the southern border in fiscal years 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021.

Additionally, they asked if any of the 116 Chinese illegal immigrants faced criminal charges or convictions, had gang affiliations or ties to terrorist organizations, or had ties to “espionage activities to foreign governments.”

Last month, Rep. Jack Bergman (R-Minn.) and five other House Republicans sent a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, asking whether the Pentagon has implemented any new security measures in response to Chinese nationals’ unauthorized access to U.S. military facilities.

Federal prosecutors charged five Chinese nationals on Oct. 2 with crimes related to trespassing at Camp Grayling, the largest Army National Guard training facility in the United States, during last summer’s annual Northern Strike training event in Michigan.

In July, a Chinese student pleaded guilty to using drones to take photos of naval shipyards in Virginia.

In April, a Chinese illegal immigrant was arrested after entering a Marine Corps base in California.

In 2020, three Chinese nationals were sentenced for trespassing and taking photos of a U.S. Navy base in Florida.

“The alarming rise in such breaches suggests a coordinated effort by the Chinese Communist Party to gauge the security of sites critical to U.S. national security, potentially in anticipation for an attack from within the homeland,” the letter reads.

“This concerning possibility is further amplified by the recent uptick in U.S. Border Patrol encounters with Chinese nationals attempting to illegally enter the U.S. via the southern border.”