A federal judge granted the government’s request on Jan. 12 to hold Chinese national Wu Qilin in detention over concerns that the man is a flight risk, after he was charged with illegally photographing a “vital military installation” in Johnson County, Missouri.
According to court documents, Wu entered the country illegally on or about June 22, 2023, near Nogales, Arizona, and was released because Border Patrol lacked detention space to hold him. He was set to have an immigration hearing on Jan. 6. Wu has been in custody since Dec. 3, 2025.
