ICE deports 122 Chinese nationals on 'high risk' flight including convicted murderer, rapist

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Dallas led a deportation operation returning 122 illegal immigrants to China on June 3. The Department of Homeland Security effort included 96 men and 26 women between the ages of 19 and 68 who had final removal orders.

According to a press release from ICE, several individuals on board the "Special High Risk Charter flight" had been convicted of violent crimes, including a 47-year-old convicted of murder and a 27-year-old convicted of rape. Others had been found guilty of drug trafficking, bribery, and human smuggling.

ICE stated that carrying out the deportations was a means of enhancing public safety in the US. The operation was coordinated from Dallas, with detainees transferred from ICE detention facilities nationwide.

“Through our interagency partnerships and coordination across ICE field offices, we have successfully removed these individuals, many who were convicted of egregious crimes,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Dallas acting Field Office Director Josh Johnson. “This operation not only enhances the public safety of our communities across the U.S. but also strengthens national security. Our colleagues at ICE come to work every day to identify, arrest and remove illegal aliens who attempt to circumvent our nation’s immigrations laws.”

The deportation comes amid a dramatic drop in illegal immigration from China under President Donald Trump. In the first three months of the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents apprehended only 225 Chinese nationals. During the same period a year earlier under the Biden administration, agents apprehended 8,809, representing a 97 percent decrease under Trump.

More than 60,000 Chinese nationals illegally entered the US during the Biden administration, with the majority crossing the border in fiscal year 2024 alone.