Lajas Blancas, Panama/Washington—

Cong, a 47-year-old Chinese immigrant who carried only a backpack, a portable tent and a small shoulder bag, was one of the immigrants who stepped off a narrow wooden boat on the stony bank of the Chukunak River in October 2019. Panama Malajas Blancas.

The stop was one of dozens he has made over the past month and where he was interviewed by VOA’s Mandarin team on his journey to the United States, which began in southwest China’s Sichuan province. Cong declined to give his full name due to security concerns.

Wearing a long-sleeved black T-shirt, black gym shorts and white crocodile-print slippers, he limped slightly as his ankles swollen from an earlier slip while crossing the river as he walked across the bank in the scorching sun. .

Immigrants from China are the fastest-growing group making the long journey to the U.S. border. Crossing Panama’s treacherous Darien Gap, risking death and disease, is a key part of the journey.

Like many others, Cong said he got a lot of information about how to make the trek from online sources, including Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok. After half a year of planning, he decided: “I have to go.”

“When I came out, I thought even if I died on the road, it would have been worth it,” he said.

When VOA asked the former pizza shop owner why he traveled all the way to a country he had never been to before, he replied: “Freedom.”

“I want to be free,” he said.

Cong said he was frustrated by the lack of freedom in China. He said his TikTok account had been blocked multiple times for using sensitive keywords and criticizing Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Cong said his definition of freedom is that he doesn’t have to do anything he doesn’t want to do and that he can criticize the president.

China’s economic downturn was another important reason for his decision to leave China. Its stock market is at a five-year low and the country’s imports and exports have also fallen. Last June, Cong had to close his crepe shop due to a lack of customers.

“Nobody has money. Nothing is easy,” he said. “Without foreign trade, all that changes hands is domestic money. How can we create wealth?”

Cong was not the only one who decided to make the long journey to the U.S. border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data show that more than 37,000 Chinese immigrants were detained at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2023, an increase of nearly 10 times from the previous year.

In the San Diego area alone, 100 kilometers inland from the Pacific Ocean, U.S. Border Patrol officials told a local TV station this week that they have arrested more than 140,000 people since October 1, including about 20,000 Chinese nationals, an increase of That’s 500% higher than the same period a year ago.

After crossing the border, the migrants surrendered to Border Patrol agents and declared their intention to seek asylum in the United States. They are usually processed and released within 72 hours. According to the Justice Department, 55% of Chinese immigrants were granted asylum last year.

Giuseppe Loprete, head of the International Organization for Migration mission in Panama, said in an interview with Al Jazeera that Chinese immigrants are particularly vulnerable due to language barriers and perceptions. They are rich.

Cong said he paid $700 to a tour guide he found on the Chinese social media platform WeChat for directions to Arcandi, Colombia. From there, he walked in the rainforest for three days. He paid another $25 for a boat trip on the Chukunak River. But that’s a fraction of what he spent on his more than month-long journey from Sichuan through Thailand, Turkey, Ecuador, Colombia and now Panama.

Since Xi Jinping took office in 2013, the number of people leaving China has surged. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, more than 700,000 Chinese sought asylum overseas between 2013 and 2021. Among them, more than 100,000 Chinese sought asylum every year between 2019 and 2021. UNHCR can provide statistics for last year.

The sharp increase in the number of Chinese immigrants to the United States has triggered national security concerns in the United States, and some people have questioned whether there are Chinese spies among them.

Republican Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, sounded the alarm about the influx of Chinese immigrants entering the United States last June, saying most of them were men of military age with known ties to the Chinese Communist Party and the United States. People’s Liberation Army.

Greene and fellow Republicans Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Troy E. Niles introduced the Chinese Spies No-Asylum Act last year, which, if passed, would prevent members of the Chinese Communist Party from seeking asylum in the United States.

Border Patrol agents encountered 5,717 single Chinese adults in January, more than double any other January on record, CBP data shows. In December, the number hit a record high of 7,581, while the total since January 2023 now stands at 64,979.

VOA Mandarin observed that more Chinese men than women travel alone.

Cong said there are still thousands of kilometers left in the journey and nothing is certain yet. He said he hopes to start life in the United States by washing dishes in a restaurant when he reaches his final destination.

“It’s better to do the best you can than to float helplessly,” he said.

Calla Yu contributed to this report.