National Security Threatened As Screening Process For Illegal Chinese Immigrants

To decrease the workload due to the record numbers of illegal immigrants crossing the border, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has relaxed the screening process for Chinese illegal immigrants, but politicians and officials have warned about the risks of endangering national security.

“The change in procedure appears to reflect the reality that the volume of Chinese migrants is overwhelming the US immigration control system … [and] should speed up the processing of applicants,” said Timothy Heath, senior international defense researcher at the RAND Corporation.

Many important security questions were omitted, including prior arrests, weapons owned, and if they paid smuggling fees. If they fail the five-question survey, the migrants are referred to the Tactical Terrorism Response Team for a more “in-depth interview.”

The old questionnaire involved hours of interviewing just one illegal Chinese immigrant.

J.J. Carrell, a retired CBP deputy patrol agent, stated that the omitting of questions makes it more difficult for agents to identify national security threats.

“This policy change has accelerated the time it takes to process Chinese illegal immigrants — this doesn’t make America safer,” Carrell said. “The final result is that dangerous Chinese illegal immigrants will still be released into the U.S.”

Illegal Chinese immigrants have been a talking point of former President Donald Trump during his recent campaign in Iowa. He criticized the Biden administration for allowing illegals across the border and reducing the vetting process. He also touched on the fact that many military-aged Chinese men are coming across and emphasized how we need to protect our borders.

“A lot of these people are young, strong men,” he told a crowd in Newton, Iowa. Military aged. 27,000 people coming in from China between the ages of 20 and 25. That sounds a little suspicious.”

Border Patrol officers have reported that the number of illegal Chinese immigrants has more than doubled between January and November 2023 in comparison to the year prior, increasing from 25,397 to 59,642.