US deports illegal Chinese migrants on charter removal flight
- Department of Homeland Security says the flight, which occurred over the weekend, took place in coordination with China’s National Immigration Administration
The US said it has carried out its first large charter removal flight to China since 2018, months after the two countries engaged in high-level talks to increase the number of Chinese nationals deported from the US.
“We will continue to enforce our immigration laws and remove individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “People should not believe the lies of smugglers.”
The DHS said it would continue to work with Beijing on additional removal flights.
Chinese nationals have become the fastest growing group to cross illegally into the US from the southern border. In the first five months of 2024, US officials apprehended 16,270 Chinese nationals along the US-Mexico border, adding to a total of over 50,000 since China lifted its strict zero-Covid controls in December 2022.
