There has been an influx of 24,000 Chinese migrants from Mexico at the U.S. border in the past 12 months – more than tenfold from the previous year

The US border is being flooded with Chinese nationals as migrant caravans from Latin America increasingly attract asylum seekers from around the world.

During fiscal year 2023, which ended in September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 24,048 Chinese citizens were arrested at the border with Mexico.

That’s more than 10 times higher than the 1,970 arrests recorded in fiscal 2022 and just 323 the year before, when China was under strict pandemic-related travel bans and lockdowns.

Although Latin America remains by far the largest regional source of immigration, China and other Eastern Hemisphere nations represent a significant and growing minority of migration via the southern land route.

The Border Patrol arrested 41,719 Indian migrants coming from Mexico in fiscal year 2023, up 129 percent from the previous year. About 7,390 Russians were captured, a 42 percent increase, while 15,429 Turks were arrested, about the same level as the previous year.

During fiscal year 2023, which ended in September, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 24,048 Border Patrol apprehensions of Chinese migrants at the southern border

A group of people, including many from China, walk along the wall near Jacumba, California, on October 24 after crossing the border into Mexico to seek asylum

Of the countries not categorized by CBP because they are not traditionally a significant source of illegal immigration, a total of 148,471 migrants were apprehended at the southern border last fiscal year, three times more than the year before. This includes many countries in the Middle East and Africa.

In total, the Border Patrol apprehended 2,045,838 migrants at illegal border crossings on the southern border and expelled another 429,831 at ports of entry in the 12 months ending September, the highest annual number on record.

The surge in migrants trying to enter the U.S. underscores the scale of the humanitarian crisis at the border and the political challenge it poses to President Joe Biden as he seeks re-election in 2024.

The influx of migrants from China follows years of draconian pandemic restrictions in that country that have hobbled the economy and shaken confidence in the ruling Communist Party.

Chinese asylum seekers who spoke to the Associated Press in a recent article said they wanted to escape an increasingly repressive political climate and bleak economic outlook.

Deng Guangsen, 28, traveled from southern China’s Guangdong province to San Diego over the past two months, crossing seven countries by plane, bus and on foot, including crossing the dangerous Darién Gap jungle in Panama.

“I don’t feel anything,” Deng said in the San Diego parking lot where border patrol agents dropped him off after clearance. ‘I have no brother, no sister.’ I have no one.’

Chinese migrants often rely on a relatively new and dangerous route through Panama’s Darién Gap jungle that has become increasingly popular with the help of social media, where posts and videos provide step-by-step instructions.

According to Panamanian immigration officials, Chinese were the fourth highest nationality to cross the Darién Gap in the first nine months of this year, after Venezuelans, Ecuadorians and Haitians.

The pandemic and China’s COVID-19 policies, which included strict border controls, temporarily prevented an exodus from the country that increased dramatically in 2018 when President Xi Jinping amended the constitution to eliminate presidential term limits.

Now emigration has increased again as China’s economy struggles to recover and youth unemployment soars.

The United Nations has forecast that China will lose 310,000 people to emigration this year, compared with 120,000 in 2012.

Deng Guangsen winces as he talks about his journey from his native China to crossing the U.S. border into Mexico while sitting in a transit center in San Diego last month

A group of people, including many from China, walk along the wall near Jacumba, California, on October 24 after crossing the border into Mexico to seek asylum

A caravan of refugees advances through the south of the country on Monday to reach the border with the United States in Tapachula, Mexico

It has become known as “Runxue,” or the teaching of running away. The term originated as a way to circumvent censorship by using a Chinese character whose pronunciation is like the English word “run” but means “to moisten.” Now it’s an internet meme.

“This wave of emigration reflects desperation toward China,” said Cai Xia, editor-in-chief of the online comment site Yibao and a former professor at the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Party School in Beijing.

“They have lost hope in the future of the country,” said Cai, who now lives in the United States. “Among them are educated and uneducated people, white-collar workers, small business owners and those from wealthy backgrounds.”-off families.’

The Darien Gap route is feasible for Chinese immigrants as they can fly to Ecuador without a visa.

From Quito, they travel with Latin Americans through the once impenetrable Darién Gap and through several Central American countries before reaching the US border.

The journey is so famous that it has its own name in Chinese: Walk the Line, or “Zouxian.”

Short video platforms and messaging apps have popularized the route.

They offer on-site video clips and step-by-step guides from China to the US, including tips on what to pack, where to find guides, how to survive in the jungle, which hotels to stay in and how much to bribe can police in different countries and what to do if you encounter US immigration officers.

Translation apps allow migrants to navigate Central America independently, even if they don’t speak Spanish or English.

Short-video app Douyin, owned by TikTok owner ByteDance, is one of the Chinese tech giant’s main sources of overall revenue, Reuters previously reported.

A couple from China adjusts their masks as they wait to board a bus to the airport after crossing the border and being dropped off by Border Patrol agents at a transit center in San Diego

A man from China receives a bowl of oatmeal from a volunteer as he waits with others for his asylum application to be processed after crossing the U.S. border with Mexico

A large influx of Chinese migrants to the United States on a relatively new and dangerous route through Panama’s Darién Gap jungle has become increasingly popular thanks to social media

A Chinese migrant told Reuters she came across “Baozai,” an internet personality who gained tens of thousands of followers on Douyin, Xigua Video, YouTube and Twitter by posting videos about his migration to the United States.

Baozai’s original account, “Baozai Exploring the World Alone,” was suspended on Douyin for violating the “community self-discipline rules.”

He now posts on Douyin under a new account with the same name, sticking to content about his life in the United States.

Reuters found other social media accounts giving advice in Mandarin about crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.

An April 7 Twitter post from an account named Lee Gaga said smugglers mark the locations of U.S. Border Patrol agents on maps and advise migrants on how to hand themselves over to them. In posts and messages exchanged with Reuters, the Twitter user identified as Lee Gaga said he was now in the New York City area after a 37-day trip.

“Of course you can try and run away, but that is not recommended,” the post reads. Twitter is blocked in China, but users may be able to access the platform through VPNs, or virtual private networks, which allow internet users to access websites blocked by authorities abroad.

The Twitter poster continued: “I was only released after three days and three nights.” “I was lucky because the border policy has been good recently.”