A new report claims the fastest-growing group of illegal immigrants entering the United States along the southern border is from China, with roughly 37,000 Chinese nationals reportedly apprehended at the border last year alone.
According to data provided by the Department of Justice, 55% of Chinese immigrants were granted asylum in 2023, compared with 14% for immigrants of other nationalities. In a post on X, formerly Twitter, 60 Minutes cited U.S. Customs and Border Protection, claiming that 37,000 Chinese nationals were apprehended while illegally attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border last year.
According to CBS News, reporters recently witnessed large groups of Chinese migrants entering the United States through a 4-foot gap in border fencing near San Diego, California. Over a four-day period, CBS News witnessed roughly 600 illegal immigrants from around the world crossing through the 4-foot gap in the border fence, with a high percentage of the illegal immigrants coming from China.
CBS News reported that many of the Chinese immigrants illegally crossing into the United States have received thorough instructions for hiring human smugglers and accessing the gap in the border fence on the Chinese social media platform TikTok. Talking with some of the Chinese immigrants, CBS News discovered that some of the illegal immigrants flew from China to Ecuador since the country does not require Chinese nationals to have visas. From Ecuador, the Chinese individuals flew to Tijuana, where they hired smugglers for $400 per person to drive them to the gap in the border fencing.
The gap in the bordering fencing is located on Jerry Shuster’s property. Shuster told CBS News that he was an immigrant himself but that he did not “bust down the door” to come to the United States like the illegal immigrants pouring across the southern border. Shuster told CBS News that he has tried defending his property but has not been successful.
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“Like, four month ago, there was eight guys start– knocking my trees and start burning my– my– my trees on the other side. So I told ’em, “Please, don’t do that. Please don’t do–” and they start surrounding me. I went home, and I got my gun, and I shoot in the air. They arrest me,” he said. “Yeah, on my property. Yeah, just because. I ask ’em not to burn the trees, not to knock the fences. And they– they arrested me. They put me in a police car. I’m just protecting my own land.”
Shuster told CBS News that roughly 3,000 illegal immigrants cross over the border on his property each week.
