Chinese migrants find new loophole to enter US as Biden crackdown unravels

Chinese migrants seeking to illegally enter the U.S. are already establishing new routes into the country after a key transit hub was shut down.

Messages between migrants suggest those fleeing Beijing are now flying to Bolivia before embarking on the arduous journey through South and Central America to the U.S. southern border. 

It comes after Ecuador withdrew visa waivers for Chinese nationals after it became flooded with travelers seeking passageway to the U.S.

The news that migrants are simply shifting their starting point is a blow to the Biden administration as it seeks to get a grip on unprecedented border crossings.

Gil Guerra, an immigration policy analyst at think tank the Niskanen Center, told DailyMail.com that he didn't think the closing of the Ecuador loophole would bring down numbers in the 'long-term.'

Chinese Migrants attempting to cross in to the U.S. from Mexico are detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the border November 11, 2023 in Jacumba, California.

Chinese migrants are now plotting various alternative routes to the U.S. since Ecuador closed its doors. Some are fraught with danger, while others are prohibitively expensive for most

A staggering 31,309 Chinese nationals have been intercepted at the U.S. southern border in the 2024 fiscal year to date.

That is already almost 30 percent more than the 24,314 who crossed the border in 2023, with four months of the 2024 count still remaining.

It marks an explosion in numbers since 2022, when only 2,176 Chinese nationals were apprehended.

The unprecedented wave of illegal migration has sparked national security fears.

Officials have linked some arrivals to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated People's Liberation Army (PLA).

Ecuador had turned into the destination of choice for flights from Beijing as it offered visa-free entry for Chinese nationals.

More than 48,000 travelers entered Ecuador from China in 2023, but only half left the country legally, according to official data by the Ecuadorian government.

La Paz, the capital of Bolivia, appears to be turning into the new transit hub for Chinese migrants seeking passageway to the U.S. after Ecuador suspended visa free entry

The discrepancy was the highest among any nationalities, according to the Niskanen Center, suggesting a significant proportion were using the country as a transit hub for illegal migration.

In June, however, Ecuador temporarily suspended its visa waiver.

The announcement was welcomed by the Department for Homeland Security, although it is unclear whether the move was the result of pressure from Washington. 

It left Suriname as the only other mainland country in the Americas that offered visa-free entry to Chinese nationals.

This led some commentators to suggest that the former Dutch colony would become the next hotspot for Chinese migrants, citing growing economic ties between the countries.

But messages on Telegram, an app where many Chinese migrants share their stories, indicate that some instead plan to start their journey from Bolivia, which offers Chinese citizens a tourist visa upon arrival, Al Jazeera reported.

31,309 Chinese nationals have been intercepted at the U.S. southern border in the 2024 fiscal year to date. That is already almost 30 per cent more than the total for 2023

An asylum seeking migrant from China holds up his passport and paperwork as he is photographed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent in an open-air holding area in San Diego

Others are turning to more convenient but costly routes, such as flying to Japan, where it is possible to obtain a multiple-entry visa to Mexico.

This option has the advantage of skipping the perilous Darien Gap, a treacherous stretch of jungle on the border of Colombia and Panama, where barbed wire fences block several passageways.

But Guerra said the exorbitant costs involved - it is likely around $15,000 more expensive than most other routes - meant he didn't expect it to be the path chosen by most.

The immigration expert said he expected Bolivia to take the bulk of Ecuador's traffic because the route was 'essentially the same'.

So far this year, 3,732 Chinese nationals have entered Bolivia, but around a quarter are either yet to leave or are unaccounted for, according to government data.

The unprecedented wave of illegal migration has sparked national security fears , with some already have been found to have links with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) 

The latest figures available from the Suriname government are only from 2021, when 944 Chinese nationals arrived in the country.

Guerra said he thought it unlikely the latter would become a new migrant hub as it was difficult to access and the route north would involve passing through volatile parts of Venezuela or northern Brazil.

He did, however, predict a temporary dip in the number of Chinese migrants arriving in the U.S., as new networks took time to establish themselves.

Guerra also pointed to the deportation of 116 Chinese migrants from the U.S. earlier this month, the first action of its kind in five years, as a potential deterrence.

But he said the political and economic factors behind the migrations would remain the same and numbers would likely push up again after alternative routes were set up.

The Darien Gap is lawless and deadly, with armed and violent gangs robbing and raping the desperate travelers. This map shows the journey many of the migrants are making 

'Ecuador was a really critical piece of the journey,' he added. 'Repealing visa free travel, alongside China's cooperation with U.S. immigration, will likely dampen the current wave of migration.

'But meaningful long term change will be a much more difficult challenge.'

Wang Zhongwei, a 33-year-old Chinese migrant who arrived in the U.S. after flying to Ecuador in May 2023, said there had been 'heated' debate among his compatriots over the South American country's decision to suspend visa waivers.

'This has a great impact [because] more than 80 percent of the people came through Ecuador,' he told Voice of America.

But he added that the desire to come to the U.S. was still strong and his countrymen were already looking at Cuba and Bolivia as alternatives.

The narrow 93-mile waterway between Cuba and the southernmost tip of Florida has been a smuggling route for decades.

But Guerra said it has historically only been used by natives due to the local knowledge required to go undetected on a small island, as well as the hazards of crossing by boat.

Back in Quito, Ecuador's capital, a cottage industry of businesses catering to Chinese migrants had established itself to smooth their journey north.

Visitors could find everything from Chinese-run hostels to Mandarin road signs, but guidance often came at a cost.

Figures from US Customs and Border Protection show how many Chinese migrants have been encountered at the US southern border since 2021

Even for those who chose to gather intelligence themselves and make their own way up through Latin America, the journey would cost around $5,000 - more than a third of a Chinese factory worker's average annual salary, according to CNN.

That includes flights out of Asia, often via Chinese passport-friendly countries like Turkey, accommodation and transport.

It could cost up to $12,000 to pay smugglers to arrange transport for parts of the journey, as well as a boat and guide to get through the Darien Gap, where there are no roads.

The Japan layover route would be closer to $20,000, CNN reported.

Chinese migrants encountered by DailyMail.com in San Diego in recent months described traveling from their homeland to South America and then flying into Mexico or walking there along with South American migrants.

Then, they paid Chinese smugglers known as 'snakeheads' who are operating in synchrony with Mexican cartels to get into the US at the southern border, DailyMail.com was first to report in February.

Chinese migrants are largely entering the US through the southern border, with most of them illegally crossing into the San Diego, California, area before asking for asylum.