The picture above is from a video where a man and a woman happily wave their phone at the camera.
They walk with a small group by the fence and tell that they have arrived in the United States. The video has been published on China’s Tiktok, or Douyin.
A similar border fence can also be seen in the video of the American news channel CBS.
In the one published in February in the 60-minute program shows how Chinese-speaking people in California, on the US-Mexico border, emerge from a gap in the border fence. Some have a towable suitcase with them.
It’s not about tourist travel, but about the rapidly growing phenomenon of Chinese people arriving illegally in the United States.
CBS says it found clear instructions on Douyn, which advise how to get to the United States through the gap in the fence.
The video shown on ‘s Douyin account is of a very similar situation.
In this case, has removed personal information from the social media images depicting border crossers. For example, people’s faces are blurred to protect their privacy.
The user of this account says in the caption in Chinese that he traveled “around the world” for more than 50 days and finally reached the United States.
noticed that many others also use the code name “travel around the world” for crossing the US border.
Users do not want or dare to express the matter directly, because usually the intention is to stay in the United States to live.
The number of Chinese increased tenfold
The phenomenon shown by the Douyin videos can also be seen in the statistics: the number of Chinese people crossing the US southern border illegally has grown exponentially.
US border officials keep statistics on the nationality of people they apprehend at the border. According to statistics, 37,000 Chinese citizens were arrested at the border last year.
The graphic shows how the number of monthly arrests has increased over the year.
The number of Chinese arriving across the border is small compared to the number of people arriving from Central America.
Still, the change from before is huge. More Chinese came to the southern border last year than in the previous ten years combined.
This year, the number of crossings has continued to increase.
In Douyin, help for the route is offered
Often the arrivals are helped by smugglers who guide people through the dangerous route.
The Douyin app also has accounts that promise to help people travel around the world.
For example, one Douyin account features a man who urges you to send a message on the Chinese Wechat app if you want to get on your next “money-saving” trip.
The account has several videos with Colombia as the location information.
This screenshot is from a video posted on the account.
The video shows how people travel in a cramped boat. A body of water can be seen in the background.
The Chinese text invites you to “travel around the world” and agree on transportation.
In other videos of the account, Asian-looking people also travel in minibuses and cars, for example.
In the captions, “preparing for world travel” and “sailing”. Among other things, Ecuador and the United States have been added as subject tags.
One of the videos found by shows a yellow taxi and the user’s comment “Tulcán airport”. Tulcán is a city in Ecuador.
Newspaper of the New York Times according to the Chinese typically fly to Ecuador, where they do not need a visa.
Many talk about financial worries
Flying from China to Ecuador is not cheap. The price of the trip and the pictures from the border show that at least some of the arrivals are relatively well-off.
For US intelligence media like CNNThe Chinese people who spoke to , said that the reason for leaving was, among other things, China’s poor work situation and limited life.
A young woman described the reason for the CBS channel in one word: freedom.
China is ruled by a single-party Communist Party. Strict corona discipline and the president Xi Jinping the tighter controls during the period have reduced people’s freedom even more.
China’s economic growth has also slowed significantly, and it is especially difficult for young people to find work.
also found a Douyin account, whose user presents a dollar wholesale and says that he ended up working shortly after crossing the border.
When people cross the border into the United States, they usually surrender to border officials. Many of the Chinese arrivals seek asylum.
Data analyzed by Syracuse University according to more than half of Chinese asylum seekers have received a positive decision in the last couple of decades. Those who receive negative decisions usually stay in the country without permission.
In the past, Chinese people seeking permanent residence in the United States usually obtained a student or tourist visa and stayed in the country after it expired. Today, the United States issues fewer visas than before.