Some Chinese illegal immigrants regret coming to the United States and returning home

Austin, Texas —

Chinese migrants crossing the U.S. southern border say they make the perilous journey to escape China’s authoritarian rule, seek the American dream or escape growing political and economic uncertainty at home.

But the challenges didn’t end after they arrived, with some deciding to return to China while others had no choice.

In April last year, Xia Yu spent two months traveling through more than 10 countries and arrived in the United States. Xia, a Chinese man in his 40s, asked to use a pseudonym so he could speak more freely about his journey in VOA Mandarin.

He said all of his possessions were stolen on the way to the U.S. border and his American dream was denied him: While in immigration detention, he failed the asylum seeker’s “credible fear interview.”

Surge in 2023

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 52,700 Chinese immigrants arrived at the U.S. border without valid entry visas in fiscal year 2023 — more than double the number two years ago. About half of them enter somewhere along the U.S. southern border, where they are apprehended by Border Protection agents and seek asylum.

Individuals who screen and demonstrate that they have a credible fear of torture, persecution, or return to their home country may remain in the United States to pursue their cases in immigration court.

Xia spent several months in a U.S. detention facility undergoing deportation before finally arriving at Shanghai Pudong Airport last August. After entering Chinese customs, he was fined $71 and had to sign a document admitting his illegal entry and deportation. His passport was confiscated and he was banned from leaving the country for three years.

The police department in his hometown also interviewed people he met in the United States.

“They asked me to delete my foreign social media apps and foreign contacts. Then they told me not to contact these people because I would be scammed,” he told VOA.

Xia said he believed his WeChat account was being monitored to prevent him from inciting others to immigrate illegally. He said that spending tens of thousands of dollars to avoid even visiting the United States was nothing to brag about, and he did not want to mention his experience again.

“Live a fulfilling life at home”

Wang Zhongwei, 33, is from China’s Anhui Province and now lives in Los Angeles, where he has been an immigration advocate since entering the United States in May.

Many Chinese who have crossed the border or are trying to cross the border seek his advice. Wang told VOA Mandarin that while most people who cross the border stay, some return because of loneliness, deception or family pressure.

Wang’s friend Liu Ming is from Sichuan and came to the United States in the second half of 2023. 31-year-old Liu Ming first stayed in Los Angeles for a month or two, and then moved to New York to find a job. After a long wait, he found a job working for a Chinese boss, but the salary was not high.

In January, Boss Liu refused to pay him wages, so he had to call the police. The next day, after Liu received his salary, he immediately went to the airport and sent a text message to Wang: “I am at the airport now, preparing to return to China. I don’t like it here. See you later.”

In March this year, when Wang contacted Liu again, he found that Liu used a self-service terminal when entering the country and did not even accept inquiries from government staff.

Within a few months, Liu was back to his old familiar life in China.

“I now work in a restaurant in my hometown. I work eight hours and the food is super delicious,” he told Wang via WhatsApp. “I used to work 12 hours non-stop in a restaurant in the United States, [where] I was bored and lonely…but I was living a full life at home.

Once, when he fell ill in the United States, he worried that he would die in a foreign country. He also complained about not being able to see women there.

“I don’t regret my trip to the United States,” Liu continued, although he admitted that after falling ill he worried he would die in a foreign country and that he found it difficult to meet women.

“What I see in real life is different than what I see online,” he concluded. “America has a good side and a bad side.”

leave room for regret

Zhang Lin, who is in his 30s and was asked to use a pseudonym to protect his privacy, described himself as a man of double regret. First he regretted coming to the United States, and now he regrets returning to China.

Crossing the U.S. border, Chang found a job as a massage therapist in Los Angeles, as he had been trained to do. There, he earned about $150 a day, a considerable wage for an undocumented immigrant.

But just a month later, he returned to China and now runs a foot spa in his hometown.

“There were a lot of things in America that I wasn’t used to, and I was lonely,” he said. “I missed home so I impulsively came back.”

Zhang said that when he went to the United States, he hoped to make a lot of money and make his family envious of his neighbors back home.

But now, after returning to China and being interrogated for 12 hours at customs without any punishment, he says he regrets his impulsive decision to return.

“Life in my hometown is really hopeless,” Zhang said, adding that he hoped to travel to the United States illegally again. “When you go out, you will find that the outside world is different.” Your mind broadens. “

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.