In April 2023, the Biden government significantly streamlined the vetting process for Chinese illegal immigrants, according to an internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) email obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The email, directed at approximately 500 Border Patrol agents, reduces the number of interview questions from around 40 to just five for Chinese migrants apprehended after crossing the U.S. border without authorization. This change came amidst Border Patrol agents being inundated with near-record numbers of illegal crossings.
“This policy change has accelerated the time it takes to process Chinese illegal immigrants — this doesn’t make America safer,” J.J. Carrell, a retired CBP deputy patrol agent in charge, told the Daily Caller. “The final result is that dangerous Chinese illegal immigrants will still be released into the U.S.” In response to this policy change, human smuggling operations have swiftly adapted to these new guidelines, coaching Chinese immigrants on how to respond to the reduced list of questions.
The obtained email also indicates that Chinese illegal immigrants who successfully answer the five “basic questions” may be allowed entry into the U.S. interior and given an immigration court date. Despite this, the Department of Homeland Security’s Special Interest Alien (SIA) list, used to assess potential national security risks, does not include immigrants from China. In November 2023, the backlog of U.S. immigration court cases reached over three million — an all-time high — and Border Patrol encounters with Chinese illegal immigrants have surged by over 1,000% between 2022 and 2023, according to government records.