Chinese migrants making perilous trek to US cross Mexican border with risks, dreams
- Recent arrivals in California meet scepticism, uncertainty and other Chinese immigrants who can help them start new lives
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US-bound with risks and dreams, the 'border crossers' from China
At a bus stop near the Mexican border in San Diego, California, Chinese migrants waited with a mix of anxiety and anticipation for the US Border Patrol buses that arrived several times each day. For some, a bus’s arrival signalled a reunion with loved ones; for others, it marked the arrival of potential customers.
Many of those assembled in late April had recently made it out of immigration detention themselves, where they vied for cramped space and awaited “credible fear” interviews that would determine whether they were eligible for asylum – days after they illegally crossed into the United States from Mexico.
Some were held for only a few days, while others were stuck for weeks or months. Once they were released, buses took them to one of several drop-off points, where they were free to go anywhere in the US to file a claim for asylum.
Pan, a border crosser from Hubei province who arrived with his wife eight days earlier, paced as he waited for her to be released from detention. He hadn’t heard from her since their phones were confiscated after they were apprehended by the Border Patrol. “The US isn’t kind to women,” he grumbled.
Pan was one of an estimated 16,270 Chinese nationals who illegally crossed the southern US border in the first five months of 2024, contributing to a total of about 50,000 who have done so since January 2023.
