House Republicans demand answers from Mayorkas, Blinken on deportation policies

(The Center Square) – U.S. Rep. Chip Roy and 16 House Republicans are demanding answers from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken on federal deportation policies, raising additional concerns about illegal border crossers from the People’s Republic of China.

On Thursday, they wrote a letter requesting information “about the status of the thousands of Chinese nationals as well as other illegal aliens from recalcitrant countries living in the U.S. today.”

China is one of 13 countries identified by DHS as uncooperative or “recalcitrant,” meaning their governments systematically refuse to accept or delay repatriating their citizens.

According to DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there were 13 countries identified as recalcitrant and 17 that partially cooperate that are considered “at risk of non-compliance” (ARON), according to a Congressional Research Service report.

As the greatest number of Chinese nationals have illegally entered the U.S. under President Joe Biden, Roy and others have raised concerns about national security threats.

“China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pose grave threats to the United States’ economic and national security,” the congressional delegation wrote.

The delegation focuses on Chinese illegally entering through the southwest border, saying, “As of May 2024, more than 31,309 Chinese nationals were encountered at the southern border this fiscal year. With four months remaining in fiscal year 2024, the U.S. has already surpassed the record 24,314 Chinese national encounters recorded in FY 2023. Indeed, from FY 2020 to FY 2023, there was a 1,800% increase in Chinese illegal alien apprehensions at the southern border.”

The letter ignores federal data that shows in fiscal 2021 and 2022, more than double and triple the number of Chinese nationals were apprehended illegally entering through the northern border than through the southwest border, The Center Square reported.

Under the Biden administration, the greatest number of Chinese nationals illegally entered the U.S., nearly 160,000, including hundreds who’ve reportedly breached U.S. military bases. The majority illegally entering are single, military age men.

Currently, deportations of some foreign nationals are dependent upon their home country being willing to accept them. At a border event in Texas three years ago, former President Donald Trump said he made deals with the leaders of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador to take back their own citizens who were violent criminals that the U.S. processed for removal. This agreement ended under the Biden administration.

“Some of the world’s most powerful countries, including the United States and those in the European Union, have had their immigration policies frustrated by smaller nations that refuse to accept their nationals designated for return,” the Migration Policy Institute explains. In 2020, roughly 18% of foreign nationals that received a deportation order from a U.S. federal immigration judge were deported, the institute notes.

“Effective returns are the cornerstone of a functional and credible migration system. If irregular migrants face little risk of deportation, they have less reason to comply with orders to leave voluntarily,” it says.

Home countries may not want to collaborate because the costs to do so are high, they lack appropriate incentives, and returnees may be a security risk, the institute notes.

One incentive includes imposing visa sanctions, ICE explains. “When specific countries deny or delay accepting their nationals with final orders of removal from the United States, the U.S. government may issue visa sanctions as a means of encouraging the recalcitrant country to cooperate.”

According to the Immigration and Nationality Act, DHS must notify the Secretary of State about the governments that deny or delay accepting their citizens the U.S. has ordered be removed. The Secretary of State may then “order U.S. consular officers at U.S. embassies and consulates in these countries to implement visa restrictions on certain categories of visa applicants.”

The delegation asked Mayorkas and Blinken to provide an updated DHS list of recalcitrant countries and “how many aliens DHS estimate[s] are in the United States from each of the[m].” It also asks how many have criminal records, how many have final orders of removal and what the status of their removal is.

They also asked for information on how many foreign nationals with final orders of removal were released from ICE’s custody into the U.S. because their home country refused to accept their repatriation since January 2021.