February 22, 2024 - 7:30pm
As the US experiences dramatic growth in illegal immigration by Chinese nationals, rumours are swirling about the alleged involvement of the Beijing government.
Podcaster and biologist Bret Weinstein discussed his travels through Central America in a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, describing a camp of Chinese migrants in Panama as a potential operation of the Chinese Communist Party. He said Chinese nationals in the camp were overwhelmingly male and hostile to outsiders, compared to economic migrants from South America fleeing poverty and instability.
Weinstein speculated that the mass migration of Chinese citizens into the US was part of an invasion related to Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, as was the building of a bridge at the Darién Gap whose purpose was unclear to either locals or the construction crew.
Television host Phil McGraw, or Dr Phil, voiced similar concerns in an appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast this week, citing immigration data and describing an influx of Chinese migrants who are fit men of military age with military haircuts and boots. He suggested that Chinese nationals living illegally in the US could launch coordinated attacks on the energy grid.
While there is no evidence that Chinese nationals are forming a fifth column, their numbers have certainly risen dramatically. In 2021 only 450 Chinese nationals were caught illegally crossing the southern border, but that figure shot up to more than 2,000 in 2022 and 24,000 in 2023, according to US Customs and Border Patrol. Nationwide encounters of Chinese migrants similarly soared in recent years, hitting 52,700 in 2023, nearly double the year prior.
Migration of Chinese nationals across the southern border has grabbed considerable media attention in recent months, with reports attributing the movement to more mundane motives: namely, finding economic opportunity and escaping political repression. Most Chinese immigrants who come illegally through the Darién Gap are lower middle-class, according to the New York Times, and many of them fear Xi Jinping could plunge China into war or economic disaster.
Concerns about Chinese operations on US soil long predate this most recent round of comments. Chinese-owned companies have purchased hundreds of thousands of acres of American land, sparking concern from lawmakers and a push from the Biden administration to restrict the buying up of land near military bases. Much of this territory is owned through Smithfield, America’s largest pork processor, which was bought out by a Chinese company. China’s dominance in critical industries, and America’s reliance on it for things like food and pharmaceuticals, creates a sense of vulnerability and suspicion.
American politicians on both sides of the aisle have taken increasingly harsh tones on China in recent years as the country expands its economy and global influence, building infrastructure and lending billions of dollars to countries throughout Africa. This influence has Western nations concerned. Joe Biden joined other G7 nations in infrastructure projects meant to counter China’s Belt and Road project in 2021, and there has been a bipartisan push to restrict Chinese biotech firms’ access to the US market.
Mass illegal immigration through the southern border has grown considerably in recent years, rising from about 1.3 million to 2 million encounters from 2021 to 2022. It has become a key campaign issue heading toward November, and the winner will face enormous pressure to halt illegal entries regardless of nationality.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeThis issue is very interesting, but, sadly, the author doesn’t offer a conclusion. The migrants might be part of an effort by the CCP to infiltrate the US, or they might simply be fleeing their own repressive country.
So what’s the author’s opinion? Is there still insufficient data to draw a conclusion? Is there any data on the ultimate destination(s) of these migrants? Are they doing entry-level jobs/claiming benefits like other economic migrants, or are they hooking up with an established Chinese infrastructure in the US? Lots of interesting questions. Maybe the author will write a follow-up piece and try to answer them.
I believe her role as a correspondent is to report the News in an objective, unbiased manner. Others are in the Opinion section and input their own spin on topics.
Good comment! It’s amazing how often “shoot the messenger” approach appears in this forum!
I just heard that a vote in the British parliament was cancelled because of safety concerns of the members of parliament. A parliament that does not vote because of a mob outside has become irrelevant. Mob rule is the goal. Bret Weinstein talks about this immigration on the Joe Rogan podcast as well. He expresses his concern that the persons organising this unravelling of the fabric of society have no clue what they are doing and that ultimately a situation will arise in which nobody can live, no matter how rich you are. It will become like the first Mad Max movie. Of course these problems do not exist outside the Western world, although I am sure they will try to export them, in particular to Africa, but ROW will look with a mixture of horror and amusement how the arrogant, war mongering, decadent and morally corrupt Western world will completely disintegrate and become an Atlantis of the future. When your enemy is making mistakes, leave him at it. I may be a small comfort for you, but Davos man will have his throat slit as well.
Lots of other problems however do exist in the rest of the world. If they are so great, why do half their population seemingly want to come here?!
Why would they desire to export anything to Africa?
Maybe if they stopped them at the border, they could ask.
I would be interested in an article that described any nefarious Chinese activities that have been uncovered.
Of course, those are probably secret.
Or ignored, like the balloon(s).
Before Covid restrictions shut it down there used to be a Chinese buffet restaurant I patronized and over several years I couldn’t help but notice a pattern. The owner was Chinese-American but he stopped running the place himself and turned it over to a Chinese manager who spoke very little English. Every so often it would change managers and the replacement would be someone who seemed to have recently arrived from China and spoke very little English. The wait staff consisted of young to middle-aged Chinese who could barely speak enough English to take an order. None of them stayed long. The place had a big turnover and it was never short-handed. I couldn’t help but wonder if it was a way station for people being shipped in to eventually be moved on to somewhere and something else.
It is a well-known fact that the Chinese had been operating more than two dozen police stations on Canadian soil not too long ago – and that’s only the ones that were discovered. They typically ran out of Chinese-owned businesses, and it didn’t sound like there was much of an effort to be covert on their behalf, because why bother when our gag-inducing Canadian progressivism sees to it that criminals will get no milk with their taxpayer funded cookies.
Not even sure what became of it. Probably received some form of funding from our government for their efforts in bringing diversity in policing to the community.
What a time to be alive.
I thought 5th Column as well
So what’s the author’s opinion? Three paragraphs were used to explore the non “mundane” explanations (opinions) and one sentence was used to mention an alternative. Hmm? Come on… you can deduce his opinion quite easily I believe.
Is there any evidence at all that migrants are fleeing repression in China? If they are not saying so, then presumably that is not the case. Perhaps an enterprising journalist might ask a few, to find out.
There’s not that much opportunity for them economically post-Covid especially. These males are excess since the one-child policy and are likely to be there to work in the drug trade either in Mexico or the USA.
Of all of the drug trade stories I’ve heard and read here in NYC, thousands by now, I’ve never heard anything about Chinese suspects.
Really? Certainly Chinese have been involved for years. Zhenli Ye Gon etc.
But two things.
One, I reckon this migration in large numbers is new, but that is because the market is changing – it is hard to get precursors for meth so the focus is increasingly toward super-powerful strains of weed.
Because it’s a bulkier product, farming, storage and transportation takes more manpower.
And two, like Zhenli Ye Gon, these people may never actually go into the USA at all.
At the higher levels, they’d never let them. These people are an asset. The Chinese are very good at this kind of chemistry. It is an art. The cartels spent years trying to get Liu Zhaohua back in the early 2000s.
And also they’re very good at distribution. Logistics is complicated.
Weinstein seemed to ask the question; did the one child policy that favored boys have a purpose?
The policy wasn’t intended to favour boys, in fact hospitals, doctors or nurses found telling the parents the sex of the unborn baby, would be punished.
The overall aim was to reduce the population. Which will be attained by 2050.
It should be easy enough to determine. Ask all of them to give their views on the Chinese regime….
The Tucker Carlson interview with Brett Weinstein is worth listening to. He actually visited various camps along that border and the Chinese camp was remarkably different.
Funny how many things I am told are just my imagination are not just my imagination.
YES, this is completely 5th Generation War. The West is being openly invaded. As the Government wishes our destruction they need not even bother with some kind of Trogan Horse – but just enter, get their free phones and debit cards and go about their way establishing criminal gangs in the city, Cartel links everywhere, setting up 5th columns everywhere for their call out of sleep, and generally contribute to crime, social decay, and social breakdown. To take all the unskilled jobs from our unskilled so they turn to self destruction, social destruction with crime and drugs and family breakdown…. All that stuff.
Dump several million single men – and so the native woman will be competed for, and nothing in the world is as socially destructive than hoards of single men with no prospect of a woman to civilize them…
It is all going to plan. You are to be destroyed – and will be…..
Somewhat hysterical. The West is indeed weakening itself by having lax immigration rules but it is completely obvious why someone living in Guatemala might prefer to live in the United States. Those fit organised Chinese however appear to be in a completely different category, and could well be state sponsored.
Maybe they won’t find our women that appealing once they find out how much we expect from men LOL
Chinese soldiers don’t necessarily wear boots. They have shoes, and damn good ones too. I have a pair. Best thing for frozen footpaths ever.
I’d certainly be moving CCP operates, or any other hostile group into the US if I could.
Of course the Chinese will exploit the stupidity of the Americans in abandoning border controls. Why wouldn’t they?
Also, we’ve abandoned land & corporate ownership controls, such as they were in the past…. wherein it’s also appropriate to ask Why wouldn’t the Chinese try to purchase all of our land and corporate entities?
I record here for posterity that I am sorry we allowed these things to happen “on our watch” — dastardly and predatory things that will almost surely result in disaster for our generations to come.
Presumably the idea is to include a certain number of people in the larger Chinese migration, who are there for Party purposes and can be activated once they reach the US.
Could they however, be undone by the fact of their purpose for crossing the border, being opposed to the aims of the larger numbers of Chinese who just want to escape China for a better life ?
Some of whom may hate China, others may be more neutral in their view. My guess is some of the ‘normal’ migrants are likely to end up being antagonistic to this group, as once in the US, they often adopt the strongly anti-Communist, usually Protestant views, held by many other long-term China expatriates.
**edit : I now doubt this on checking with Chinese family – the consensus is that these men are likely there to work in the drug trade
Look – this is not an accident. Nations do not open their border to invasion by mistake.
If the Chinese are out to nefarious means – it is by 100% consent by the Biden White House. All of it is. This is obviously one of the many prongs of things being done by them to destroy USA. I could not think of anything else that would explain it.
Same with the Ukraine War, the Covid response, the War in the ME, BLM, DEI, ESG, CRS, mail in voting with no ID, homelessness, open drug markets and dirt cheap fentanyl, the coming CBDCs, the total monitoring of all by the DHS, the ‘Lawfaire’ of the legal system basically establishing political Gulags of Jan 6 ‘trespassers’ and Trumps 91 Felony counts and $500,000,000 civil fines, and open political war against any opposition, striking opposition off ballots, the $36 Trillion debt grown last year by a Trillion a quarter…..the Censoring and 100% capture of the Education and Tech and Media by postmodernist anti-Western forces – it just goes on and on –
It is 5th generational war – and you are losing Badly! Trump or 1984 – those are your choice.
If you want George Soros to contribute to your presidential campaign you have to accept the conditions which come with that: no prisons and no borders.
Trump is false hope imo. He will channel populist anger and do nothing in office imo. America needs someone truely outside this two party system and someone more competent
Regardless, the hostility from the people in the camp Weinstein found, is probly because they are there to work in the drug trade.
This is far more likely than a Chinese invasion.
One branch of my Chinese family is people like this.
Wow.. I was thinking this crowd may actually think outside the herd, but I’ve come to just another herd.
Sadly Trump doesn’t have what it takes to save the country. With few exceptions he’s a terrible judge of character.
Happy talk.
Assuming that your “Chinese family” insider knowledge is soundly based, it might be worth serious consideration as to -Who? Why Now?and for What Reason?, would any drug cartel that is focussed upon the USA market, suddenly want thousands of Chinese nationals (all with a CCP dictate of absolute loyalty to the Chinese State), as “workers”.
The first thing to point out is that for the ones who intend to work in the US, or even get there, they’d immediately claim asylum, for the good reason that once they do that in the US, they’re not permitted to return to China.
Not much loyalty to the CCP or Chinese state here.
(I’ll have to get onto the other bits later, when I talk to them more.)
Ask yourself this…
If you are either an existing enemy of the US, say Iran, or a potential adversary, say China, and you are told that the US southern border is completely porous, that people of any nation can cross over into the country and be let loose, why would you NOT send people?
Might depend on whether you trusted them to keep the faith and carry out your wishes.
Sending militarily trained people who may be turned by listening to the experiences of fellow Chinese on the journey, or by members of either the well-to-do or evangelizing types, among the American Chinese diaspora, could be counter-productive.
I know a number of former cadres sent overseas for all sorts of reasons.
I’ve always been quite refreshed at how good they are at thinking for themselves, and how clear-headed in assessing their self-interest.
Ye of little faith. Relatives staying at home are the hostages to ensure compliance.
Chinese system can be mean, if it decides to single you out, true, but generally there needs to be a reason other than just being seduced by the West.
How would so many citizens of a repressive country escape its borders? And why are so many of them young males?
China wants them to go. Too many males.
Once they claim asylum, they aren’t allowed back.
It’s not all one way:
Former banker Jiang Dongmei, who was accused of corruption and fled China, has been arrested overseas and repatriated, according to a Monday statement (link in Chinese) from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), the country’s top anti-graft agency.
The context: Jiang, 51, served as president of Liaoyang Rural Commercial Bank Co. Ltd., a local bank based in Northeast China’s Liaoning province. She was accused of taking bribes and illegally issuing loans involving huge sums of money, the statement said. She fled the country in March, and in July, Interpol issued a Red Notice for Jiang at China’s request.
Over the past few years, China has stepped up the hunt for fugitives accused of corruption. From 2014 to the end of 2019, 7,242 fugitives were repatriated to China from more than 120 countries and regions, with 18.6 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) in illicit money being recovered, according to another CCDI statement
https://www.caixinglobal.com/2021-10-06/fugitive-china-banker-returned-after-arrest-abroad-101783569.html
“Chinese nationals in the camp were overwhelmingly male and hostile to outsiders” It used to be a commonly held view on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain that only the dead had a reason to smile.
You can understand why a Guatemalan, say, might want to emigrate to the West and the US is by far the easiest rich (still!) country to get to, and with cultural and language connections.
But Chinese?! How and why did they get there? I would agree that this looks very suspicious. I would advocate strongly cross examining all of them, if not simply imposing a Trump style ban. But of course nothing like that will happen.
I saw the Weinstein interview. It is alarming to even dare think that the US administration has sold out to China and is actively enabling this invasion. However, given various things now in the common domain regarding payments received by the Biden family from China plus Biden’s current plans for the US net zero economy, which appears to be designed solely to benefit China at hugely damaging cost to US business and people, it would appear to be more than likely. And all the time we are being told that it is Putin who poses the greatest threat of 2024.
I don’t get it. The author says encounters between 2021-2022 were 2450. Then she ends by saying there were 2 million encounters. Which is it? I have read about people around the globe trying to get to America, including China. Maybe the fact that they are young men is that most of the illegal migrants in America and Europe are young men. Anyway, I, too, am concerned about the Chinese infiltration of America. No more foreigners buying property. Ban Tik Tok. No more Chinese nationals working for tech companies. It has to stop.
—Kimberly
..the weak underbelly of ‘liberalism’