A record number of Chinese nationals crossed the southern border into the United States last month, breaking the previous record that was set just a month prior.
A full 4,797 Chinese nationals were encountered on America’s southwestern border with Mexico in November 2023, according to figures from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP). It’s the third consecutive month that a record was set for monthly encounters with Chinese at the border, with 4,261 encountered in October and 4,042 encountered in September.
There were also 7,245 nationwide encounters with Chinese nationals by immigration officials throughout the whole country in November, an increase from 7,164 in October.
The monthly figures mark a shocking increase from fiscal years 2021 and 2022, when there were just 450 and 2,176 southwest border encounters with Chinese nationals, respectively. The number surged to 24,314 in FY 2023 and has already climbed past 9,000 in just the first two months of FY 2024.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) warned earlier this year that some of the Chinese nationals entering the United States had connections to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army, citing information from a Border Patrol Sector Chief.
The new figures were released alongside data revealing that there were nearly 250,000 illegal immigrant encounters in November alone, breaking the record for the month.
Illegal border crossings have surged under the Biden administration, with an estimated 1.7 million illegal immigrant gotaways being recorded since Biden took office in 2021. There were 415,000 total reported gotaways for 2018, 2019, and 2020 under the Trump administration. The number of illegal border crossings jumped to a record high in fiscal year 2022.
The surge has included a 1,000% increase in illegal immigration from a number of different countries, including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Dominican Republic, among others.
The record-high increases in illegal immigration have strained major cities like Chicago and New York, which have struggled to house foreign nationals. Chicago passed a measure earlier this year to provide $51 million in funding to house and feed migrants, while 50 places of worship in New York City are now being used to accommodate foreign nationals.
Multiple public opinion surveys indicate that voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the border. A Fox News poll, which surveyed more than 1,000 registered voters in late June, found that 62% of respondents disapproved of Biden’s handling of the border, while only 35% approve.