U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas along with 16 other House members are calling on the Biden administration to push back against countries that fail to take back their illegal aliens.
The letter, sent to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, requests the names of all countries currently listed as recalcitrant, countries that are listed as at risk of non-compliance, and what type of visa sanctions have been imposed on the uncooperative countries.
Specifically, the letter draws concern about Chinese nationals that are continuing to flood across the U.S. border, explaining that China is one of the most uncooperative countries when it comes to taking back its citizens.
“This is concerning as China and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pose grave threats to the United States’ economic and national security,” reads the letter. “In fact, China is one of 13 countries considered uncooperative or ‘recalcitrant,’ systematically refusing or needlessly delaying the repatriation of their citizens. Thus, I am inquiring about the status of the thousands of Chinese nationals as well as other illegal aliens from recalcitrant countries living in the U.S. today.”
As of May 2024, more than 31,000 Chinese nationals have been encountered at the southern border thus far in Fiscal Year 2024—which has already surpassed FY 2023’s 24,314 encounters.
The lawmakers state that in April 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection instructed its agents to reduce the number of questions from 40 to only five when vetting Chinese nationals, making it more difficult to detect national security threats.
Furthermore, in FY 2023, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement only removed 288 Chinese nationals from the U.S., with nearly 100,000 nationals with final orders of removal remaining in the country, as Beijing was slow or outright refused to take its citizens back.
The lawmakers also note in the letter under Section 243(d) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, “if DHS informs the Department of State (DOS) of a county’s recalcitrant conduct, the DOS must stop granting immigrant visas or nonimmigrant visas, or both until the foreign government begins accepting its nationals from the U.S.”
“Ensuring a timely return of removable aliens should be a priority for the administration. The administration should ensure every country accepts all its repatriated citizens, with no exceptions,” the letter states.
Alongside China being non-compliant in accepting its citizens back, as of July 2020, ICE has also listed Bhutan, Burundi, Cambodia, Cuba, Eritrea, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Iraq, Laos, Pakistan, and Russia as recalcitrant countries.10 Additionally, ICE considers Afghanistan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Burma, Ethiopia, Gambia, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, North Macedonia, Samoa, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tonga, Ukraine, Vietnam and Yemen at risk of non-compliance.
Several other Texas congressmen signed the letter as well, including Reps. Randy Weber, Brian Babin, Dan Crenshaw, and Pat Fallon.
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