Whoever All These Chinese Are – They Aren’t Refugees
Vast numbers of Chinese have shown up at our southern border demanding asylum in the last few years. They have stood out because they are mostly military-aged men and appear at the border relatively well-dressed and in good order. This has raised legitimate concerns about who they really are and what they intend. It also raises another very important question.
If you have the resources to make this trip and arrive well-dressed, well-fed, and well groomed – are you really a refugee to whom the American people should extend a helping hand and charity? Why are we feeding, housing, and sheltering folks who seem to have resources beyond those of many American citizens?
Most Chinese fly from China to Ecuador, because Ecuador does not require visas for Chinese to enter. The Chinese then come overland from Ecuador across Central America to the United States. Not everybody takes this route, however. A significant number fly into Mexico on tourist visas, vacation at a resort in Mexico for a week or more, and then come north.
Erika Pinheiro is an immigration attorney. She works for a group called Al Otra, which helps illegals get into the United States and stay here. She thinks the Biden administration is too hard on asylum seekers if that gives you any idea of her political leanings. Pinheiro has this to say about the Chinese coming across our southern border.
“These migrants tend to have more resources. We have this understanding of asylum seekers as poor and [that] they are only coming to America for economic opportunities, but the people that I’m meeting [at the San Diego, Calif.] border tend to be at least middle class, if not upper-middle class, from their countries.”
Pinheiro, who is the executive director of migrant services at legal aid company Al Otro, says she has spoken to Chinese migrants who have walked through multiple Central American countries, but others who could afford it flew into Mexico and have walked into the U.S. from there.
“Some of them I have spoken to got their [travel] visa like they were going to vacation in Mexico and might’ve spent a week in a resort because they have the money,” Pinheiro said.
Police sources told NewsNation they pay smugglers up to $35,000 to get them across from Mexico into the U.S.
More than 4,000 Chinese nationals were apprehended by Border Patrol in October— a huge uptick from the 329 who were captured at the same time last year.