U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has encountered 2,999 Chinese nationals at the southern border so far in fiscal year 2023—a 719 percent increase year-over-year, according to CBP data released on Feb. 10.
The total also exceeds the amount recorded for the entirety of fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021–Sept. 30, 2022), during which 2,176 such encounters were reported.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, CBP encounter data includes illegal immigrants who have been apprehended under Title 8 immigration law, Title 8 “inadmissibles,” and noncitizens processed for expulsion under Title 42.
By this time last year, Border Patrol agents had encountered a total of 366 Chinese nationals at the U.S.-Mexico border….