Commentary
Russia had sleeper agents in Ukraine before the invasion. Chinese illegals entering the southern border could be Chinese Communist Party (CCP) agents and saboteurs.
Customs and Border Protection reported that 24,000 Chinese individuals entered the United States last year, a significant increase from the 450 reported in 2021. However, this figure only accounts for those who surrendered or were apprehended. Authorities acknowledge that thousands more got away. Considering those who escaped capture and entered undetected, the actual number of entrants into the United States is likely much higher.
The American Free Policy Institute (AFPI) calls the wave of Chinese illegals a Trojan Horse, warning that “Reporting indicates that most illegal aliens coming to the southern border, including Chinese nationals, are not fleeing persecution and thus do not qualify for asylum under U.S. law. However, they are still being released into American communities.”
AFPI makes a valid point: non-Chinese migrants, regardless of what it says on their asylum application, are coming for other reasons, usually financial, including working for drug cartels and transnational crime organizations. In the case of the Chinese illegals, the reason they are coming could be to further the foreign policy objectives of the CCP.
At the same time that they are coming illegally, the U.S. government is tightening visa requirements for Chinese citizens on national security grounds. The inability to obtain a legal visa is one of the primary drivers of illegal immigration. Under the new rules, people with close ties to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) or the CCP will be denied. This raises the likelihood of the illegals working for Beijing. Ironically, the Biden administration is allowing a large percentage of the Chinese who enter through the southern border to remain in the United States. Over half of Chinese asylum applications were granted in 2023—more than any other ethnicity.
The CCP knows that the U.S. border is porous and that the immigration system is weak. Chinese social media platforms, such as Douyin and Xingua Video, have hashtags providing advice on the overland journey through Latin America to the United States. Since the CCP monitors and censors all media and social media, Beijing must be aware of this and is not putting a stop to it.
It is not easy for the average Chinese citizen to leave China, particularly if they are not from a tier-one city. They have to fly to a country where the Chinese can easily obtain a visa and also need to have sufficient funds. Some migrants fly to Ecuador, where no visas are required, while others fly into Tijuana and pay cartels up to $35,000 to smuggle them to the U.S. border. Not everyone in China has $35,000 in U.S. dollars, nor would it be easy to get that amount of money out of the country without CCP support.
Concerns about waves of unvetted illegal immigrants entering the country in the millions are significant and justifiable. However, with tens of thousands of Chinese nationals entering the country illegally, another issue arises: the potential for espionage. The FBI has documented thousands of cases of Chinese nationals being investigated for or found guilty of spying.
So why would unvetted Chinese illegal immigrants not pose a larger threat? Rebecca Grant, a national security analyst at IRIS Independent Research, recently told Newsweek, “Some of those people want to come here and have a better way of life, but I think some of those Chinese nationals quite possibly are here to spy and report back at a minimum.”
Russia had placed sleeper agents in Ukraine, which it activated before the invasion. The CCP could be doing the same in the United States. The Department of Homeland Security’s 2024 threat assessment states, “Chinese government cyber actors likely will continue to target key critical infrastructure sectors in the United States.” FBI Director Christopher Wray, testifying before Congress, warned of the threat China poses to U.S. infrastructure and how devastating it would be if China were able to disrupt our communications, power, or financial grids.
This threat is not limited to cyber hacking but also includes physical sabotage. Chinese spies have been found inside U.S. military installations with cameras, and Chinese nationals have been charged with stealing nuclear or biological secrets from U.S. contractors, universities, and research facilities. Rather than merely spying or hacking, CCP spies could commit targeted acts of destruction.
In March of 2023, unknown saboteurs fired small arms at power substations in three states, resulting in power outages in thousands of homes. The Department of Homeland Security released “The National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets” in 2003 but does not seem to have updated the report. However, the 2023 incident demonstrates how vulnerable U.S. infrastructure is and how few people it takes to cause a disruption.
There is so much focus today on cybersecurity and hacking, but good old-fashioned physical threats, like bombs in power stations and on railway lines, can paralyze a city. It would only take the activation of a few sleeper agents with guns or gas bombs to wreak havoc, but the CCP doesn’t just have a few; as a result of illegal immigration, they have the potential of tens of thousands.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
