Chinese illegal immigrant apprehensions up 4000% at US-Mexico border since 2021

Fox News’ Bill Melugin, reporting from the southern border, recounted that his Spanish speaking skills are "not doing me a whole lot of good down here" in Jacumba, California, as "we’re getting a massive explosion of Chinese nationals crossing the border."

Melugin spoke with some of these illegal immigrants that had freshly crossed the border and were waiting to be processed by border officials, who said they came from China, Turkey, and Ecuador. One woman, who had to translate what Melugin was saying through her phone, said she was heading to Los Angeles.

Over the weekend, "Fox cameras witnessed hundreds of Chinese nationals crossing illegally here in Jacumba. Again, most of them single adults, very few of any with little children with them." Melugin said "this is not normal."

A CBP source told Fox News that since October 2023, which marked the beginning of fiscal year 2024, there have been over 20,000 encounters with illegal immigrants from China. In the entirety of fiscal year 2021, which ran from October 2020 to September 2021, there were just 450 of these encounters, representing a 4,000 percent spike in encounters with Chinese illegal immigrants.

Earlier in the year, it was revealed that the Biden administration had reduced the vetting process for illegal immigrants from China.

An April 2023 email to around 500 Border Patrol agents instructed the agents to reduce the number of interview questions for Chinese illegal immigrants who are apprehended.

The list of questions was cut down from 40 to just five. This allowed a fast-track of the release of Chinese illegal immigrants into the interior of the United States and has made it more difficult for CBP agents to identify national security threats.