Chinese immigrants who moved to the United States to escape the pandemic policies of the Chinese government during the COVID-19 period are now in a dilemma. As immigration enforcement under the Donald Trump administration becomes increasingly strict, it has become difficult to remain in the United States, but returning to their homeland is also challenging.
On the 3rd (local time), The New York Times (NYT) reported, "Due to the intensified immigration enforcement under the Trump administration, many Chinese immigrants are now facing questions they had never imagined: Should they stay in the United States, or should they leave?"
According to NYT, most Chinese immigrants left China to escape strict censorship, worsening political oppression, or the 'zero COVID' policy that had locked down entire cities for at least several weeks and up to several months.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), more than 63,000 people crossed the southern U.S. border without permission after the Chinese government lifted COVID-19 border controls in January 2023. They form the fourth largest immigrant group in the United States, following Venezuela, Haiti, and Ecuador.
However, since the Trump administration took office, the safety of Chinese immigrants has been threatened. The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been conducting rigorous immigration enforcement in major cities like San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles, deporting those who immigrated to the United States through illegal channels.
At the beginning of 2023, a person surnamed Han, 46, who illegally crossed the southern border into the U.S. and settled in Los Angeles, has been hiding in an apartment since the ICE crackdown and quit his job delivering for Amazon. Han said, "Everyone is so scared," adding, "I never thought this would happen in the United States."
The fear of deportation among Chinese individuals is prominent on social media (SNS). According to NYT, questions such as "Should I go back (to China)?" and "Who has returned?" have become hot topics on Chinese SNS. Those who were pondering how to leave China during the COVID-19 lockdown are now contemplating ways to return.
Huang Xiaosheng, a Chinese immigration lawyer based in Los Angeles, noted, "The situation has worsened since the Trump administration set a daily arrest goal of 3,000 in May," adding that "some Chinese immigrants are considering options to return to Canada or other countries, or even back to China."
The problem is that returning to China does not guarantee a bright future. Immigrants who escaped China through illegal routes are likely to face fines, and in some cases, even imprisonment if they return to their homeland.
In fact, Xu Feng, who crossed over to the United States earlier in 2023, said that while two of his friends recently returned to China, he wants to remain in the U.S. Both of his friends were fined 1,000 yuan after returning to China, and one of them had their passport confiscated.
Immigration lawyer Chen Chuanquan said, "In reality, very few clients have returned to China, and those who have are regretting it," adding that "Chinese individuals who entered the U.S. illegally can be prosecuted, and one of my clients was convicted after being forcibly repatriated to China late last year."