National Security Concerns Raised as Number of Chinese Military-Age Illegal Immigrants Hits Record High

The number of single, military-age Chinese nationals entering the United States illegally so far this fiscal year has already outpaced any prior fiscal year on record, while the latest data from March shows a more than 15,000 percent increase compared to President Donald Trump’s final full month in office.

Amid ongoing tensions with China, there’s been a stream of warnings from lawmakers and border officials about the meteoric rise in the number of Chinese military-age nationals entering the country illegally since President Joe Biden took office, with the numbers hitting staggering levels over the past year or so.

That may be a significant drop from the recent peak but it still represents a 15,130 percent increase compared to President Trump’s final full month in office (December 2020), when 10 such individuals who were encountered.

More generally, during the last three full months of the Trump presidency, there was an average of just over nine Chinese single adults encountered by border patrol agents.

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Some analysts say that deteriorating economic conditions in China, along with human rights abuses and policies such as draconian COVID-19 lockdowns, are a likely factor behind the increase.

However, Mr. Judd and others have warned that this relatively innocuous trend could be exploited by Chinese military intelligence.

“Why are we seeing this influx?” he said in the February interview. “At best, they’re just coming here for a better life or a better job. At worst, they’re coming here [as] part of the Chinese government, and that’s what scares me an awful lot.”

Commenting on the March figures was Florida state Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican, who called it a threat to national security.

In his second year in office, that number rose by 1,467 percent—from 61 in January 2022 to 956 in January 2023—before more than tripling to 3,220 in January 2024.

The current fiscal year (which began in October 2023) has already set a record for the number of military-age Chinese nationals entering the United States without authorization.

CBP data shows that 20,868 such individuals were encountered by border patrol agents in the fiscal year to date. By comparison, in the full prior fiscal year (October 2022–September 2023), there were 20,831 such individuals encountered.

Single adults represents the majority of illegal border crossers of Chinese nationality, with the March 2024 figure of 1,523 representing nearly three-quarters of the total 2,063 Chinese nationals encountered by border agents.

Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch, blamed the Biden administration’s inaction on the border for the stark numbers while suggesting that the Chinese regime may be exploiting the porous border.

“Don’t get me started about the Chinese illegal aliens crossing,” Mr. Fitton said in a video posted on X. “You think that’s an accident? You think they’re just showing up as migrants? Oh no, that’ a Chinese communist government operation.”

“China’s literally invading the United States through these illegal aliens, crossing our border, and Biden isn’t doing anything about it,” Mr. Fitton continued.

“It’s the consequence of having an open border,” he said. “They’ve wanted this and we’re getting exactly what they desired, which is you have no enforcement, you’ve got Chinese nationals now being caught at military installations, potentially spying on our military.”

Republicans have blamed President Biden’s policies for fueling the border crisis while calling for measures such as ending the Biden administration’s contentious “catch-and-release” policy, expanding expedited removals, renewing border wall construction, and reinstating the Trump-era “Remain in Mexico” policy.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on the record number of military-aged Chinese illegal immigrants encountered by border patrol nor on the GOP criticism.