When Yuxiu Zhou crossed the U.S. and Mexico border with his teenage son last October after a month-long zigzagging trip from China, he believed all his nightmares were behind him.
The corrupt local government officials in his home village in the Southern Zhejiang Province in China who destroyed his dream of being an entrepreneur, and the snakehead in Mexico who sucked him dry by telling him he must buy a Mexican green card to cross to the U.S. were replaced by kind Americans who offered them food and clothes. Even the border patrol officials who locked them up in a detention center in San Diego seemed to be nice. They were released on the second day.
Zhou and his son flew to New York immediately where they were joined by his wife and their teenage daughter, who took the same route across the border a few months later. On the bustling streets of Flushing in Queens, teeming with aspiring new immigrants from China, Zhou, 57, was convinced that with the freedom and democracy guaranteed in America he could “make it” here just by working hard.
Invoking Emma Lazarus
Then, Donald Trump was elected President for a second time, and Zhou’s life was cast in shadows again.
Trump’s pledge to start a mass deportation of illegal immigrants on day one has sent chills down the spines of asylum seekers from China, many of whom came here to escape alleged political persecution. They say they fear they will be thrown in prison if they are sent back to China.
Last week, Zhou and some other Chinese asylum-seekers drafted an open letter to Trump to plead with him to let them stay. They plan to send it to the President on Inauguration Day with signatures they are now collecting. “These are people suffering a lot in China, and we identify with American values. We don’t deserve to be hurt again,” Zhou said.
The Growing Number of Chinese Asylum-Seekers
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of Chinese nationals crossing without papers and encountered by border patrol officers has jumped to 78,000 this year from 23,000 three years earlier, thanks to the lenient border controls of the Biden administration together with China’s draconian COVID measures and its weak economy.
The Shift in Motivations
About 10% of the newcomers fled China for political reasons, estimates Wan Yanhai, the founding president of Information for Chinese Immigrants, a Flushing-based organization providing help to Chinese asylum-seekers. This is a shift from the last high tide in the 1990s when almost all of the hundreds of thousands of Chinese immigrants smuggled into the U.S. from the coastal Fujian province came to make money.
Zhou’s Story
Zhou, a garment wholesaler in China, managed to build a six-story building on the land belonging to his family in his village. After he finished the renovation and planned to turn it into a hotel just before the COVID pandemic, the regulators refused to grant him a permit unless he “donated” 200,000 RMB (about $30,000) to them. Zhou declined and tried to make it a residential rental instead. Then the pandemic hit, and the local government rented 10 rooms as quarantine units. But the promised monthly rent of 1,000 RMB (about $140) per room has never been paid.
The Open Letter to Trump
The letter to Trump describes Chinese asylum-seekers’ suffering in China, cites the Bible and the “The New Colossus” — Emma Lazarus’s poem engraved on the pedestal of the Statue Liberty — promises to abide by the law and contribute to the country, and asks for an opportunity to stay.
Conclusion:
The story of Yuxiu Zhou and the growing number of Chinese asylum-seekers in the U.S. highlights the complexities of immigration and the challenges faced by those fleeing political persecution. As the U.S. prepares for a new administration, the fate of these asylum-seekers hangs in the balance.
FAQs:
Q: What is the current situation for Chinese asylum-seekers in the U.S.?
A: According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of Chinese nationals crossing without papers and encountered by border patrol officers has jumped to 78,000 this year from 23,000 three years earlier.
Q: Why are Chinese asylum-seekers fleeing to the U.S.?
A: Many Chinese asylum-seekers are fleeing political persecution, corruption, and economic difficulties in China.
Q: What is the Trump administration’s stance on mass deportation?
A: Trump has pledged to start a mass deportation of illegal immigrants on day one, but it is unclear how this will be carried out.
Q: What is the response of Chinese community leaders to the mass deportation threat?
A: Some Chinese community leaders contend that mass deportation is only a campaign tactic that will be tossed away when Trump reoccupies the White House. Others are more concerned about the impact on the Chinese community.
