Ecuador moves to restrict U.S.-bound Chinese migrants, many of whom cross border in California

The government of Ecuador on Tuesday suspended a policy allowing visa-free entry of Chinese citizens in an apparent move to crack down on asylum seekers who fly into the South American nation en route to the United States. The numbers of undocumented Chinese nationals entering into San Diego County illegally from Mexico have grown dramatically in recent years, with the area now the main crossing point for nearly all Chinese citizens seeking asylum in the United States, according to U.S. government statistics. Chinese national Zhang Hao books a taxi outside the Iris Avenue bus station in San Diego, where the U.S. Border Patrol dropped him and dozens of other asylum seekers. From the start of this fiscal year on Oct. 1, 2023, through April, the U.S. Border Patrol in San Diego recorded 27,135 apprehensions of Chinese nationals, more than double the 10,520 detentions in all of the previous fiscal year — and almost 30 times the 947 apprehensions of Chinese migrants in fiscal 2022. And they often are aided by smuggling rings that sometimes charge tens of thousands of dollars to reach the U.S. “What Ecuador has done might have an impact in the short term, but in the long terms, migrants from China will likely find other options,” said Adriana Jasso, who coordinates the U.S.-Mexico border program for the American Friends Service Committee in San Diego.