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This series features brief discussions with leading China experts on a range of issues in the U.S.-China relationship, including domestic politics, foreign policy, economics, security, culture, the environment, and areas of global concern. For more interviews, videos, and links to events, visit our website: www.ncuscr.org.

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is the leading nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that encourages understanding of China and the United States among citizens of both countries.

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  2. The Recent Influx of Chinese Migrants across the U.S.-Mexico Border

The Recent Influx of Chinese Migrants across the U.S.-Mexico Border

Aug 30, 2024

In 2023, U.S. border officials arrested over 37,000 Chinese nationals at the southern border, ten times as many as the previous year. The trend is so pronounced that “walking the line” (走线), as the journey from Central/South America to the U.S. southern border is known on Chinese social media, has become a buzzword in Chinese society. The resulting influx of Chinese migrants into the United States has drawn the attention of mainstream U.S. media, prompting calls for policymakers to act. The Department of Homeland Security announced on July 2, 2024, that it had sent 116 Chinese migrants back to China from the United States in the first “large charter flight” in five years, and will continue to work with China on future removal flights.   

In a conversation moderated by Meredith Oyen on August 13, 2024, Gil Guerra and Leland Lazarus shared information about the issues surrounding current Chinese migrants and discussed the U.S. policy responses. 

About the speakers: https://www.ncuscr.org/event/chinese-migrants-at-the-border/ 

Follow Gil Guerra on X: @gildeguerra

Follow Leland Lazarus on X: @LelandLazarus

Follow Meredith Oyen on X: @MeredithOyen

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