During the lockdown in China, a woman who lived in a busy metropolitan area in most parts of her life, and her husband rapidly criticized the country’s “zero coowed” policy. He spoke, but he faced retaliation by the authorities, which led to his fled to the United States last month.
The woman, who asked not to identify for further advice, did not take any normal path. Many immigrants from China come to the United States via Dareen Gap, which is an inter -part of the forest between Colombia and Panama, which they cross the north. Instead, they took a boat from the Bahamas.
She said she was flying from China to London last month for Bahamas, then in search of entering the United States and applying for asylum, was riding a boat near the Florida city of coral. She was facing rough oceans, remote islands – and then border patrols.
He was then detained at the end of his journey in Florida, he told NBC News exclusively.
“I knew it was dangerous, but I had no choice but I had no choice.”
The woman said that after criticizing the government, the authorities harassed her. He said he felt that he had to leave and had retained a lawyer in the United States to oversee his political asylum claim.
Referring to Chinese leader Xi Jinping, he said, “China has no rule of law, nor any human rights and the rule of the people.” “All our freedoms have been stripped and nothing is left.”
His journey ended January 17Just a few days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump and the growing arrests by the implementation of immigration and customs in cities across the country. These measures describe the promise of a massive deportation when Trump holds office.
Authorities said that a woman from China was among 30 people who were taken into custody in coral Gables, so as part of a possible human trafficking or smuggling process. Twenty -one people were from China.
In 2023, more than 35,000 Chinese immigrants crossed the southern border, but the crossings have been significantly reduced due to severe implementation on both sides of the United States and Mexicans. As a result, alternative routes to smuggling – such as the Bahamas via this woman’s way – can be more popular.
Coral Gables Police Chief Ed Hoodick said the migrants were found in a U -Hole van, and those who were behind the operation were kept in custody. Police said they were informed by the security guard for the association of nearby landlords, who told police that they thought they were being abducted.
In addition, in the Coral Gables, on January 28, officers stopped, which launched an investigation after the transport of more than two dozen Chinese immigrants.
Police are trying to determine whether both incidents are smuggling or human trafficking operations are linked to them.
“Smuggling is a criminal support for someone who wants to enter the country illegally,” Hodak said at a news conference last month. “Human trafficking is not really, they may have started trying to enter the country and they come into a blasphemous move where people are living here for criminal activity.”
The paths of the Baha’a have been interested in the past few years, though these samples can be cyclists. I New ProvidanceIn the most populous island in Bahamas, officials arrested 4,949 foreign nationals in 2022, more than twice before the year. According to one, the number cools down to 3,702 concerns in 2023 Annual Report The country’s immigration department.
Especially for Chinese immigrants, the number of Miami, which began in Miami for the financial year 2025, has already reached nearly three -quarters in 2024.
Experts say new routes may be more common, new policies on the southern border indicate potentially migrants find alternative routes to the United States. The Trump administration has said it will close the paths like Darren Gap, though it is not in his power to do so.
Bahamas is a way that does Visa is not required from many countries To enter.
Doris Messner, director of the US immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, told NBC News that he was not surprised by immigrants passing through the Bahamas. He said the new administration or policies could indicate a period of “waiting and watching” in smugglers. And he said other routes are being tested in various geographical locations.
“Smugglers wait to see how policies are being implemented in fact, even if they remain. “There will usually be efforts to find some other types of routes during or following this type of period.”
Under the new administration, there are questions that the newly incoming non -documentary immigrants will be dealt with. Trump recently signed an executive action, suspending asylum for those crossing the southern border. Last month, the Department of Homeland Security increased its use of “rapid removal”, which allows CBP officials to be deported without a hearing of the immigration court or a judge’s hearing before a judge. –
A, a journey of 000 32,000
Chinese immigrants, who are looking forward to asylum hearing, said they made contact with their smugglers online.
“All the information you need to travel can be found,” he said in Mandarin.
He said that people who monitor the operation are based in Fawzian, China’s southeastern coastal province. From the 1980sSmuggling has been a common method of admission, especially for immigrants coming from Fujian. With the help of technology and through apps like V -Chat, modern smugglers can communicate and make hand offices at various locations, produce fake documents for travelers and find low -travel routes.
He said smuggling “is a traditional industry for Fujian.” “They manage sea routes and know what to do.”
“China’s location on the issue of illegal immigration is permanent and clear,” said Liu Pangio, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy. “The Chinese government strongly oppose all kinds of illegal immigration and will continue to strengthen cooperation on international immigration law enforcement agencies and work with the respective countries to work together illegal border activities such as organized smuggling Like to deal with challenges. “
The woman said that the route that her smugglers had arranged included going to London before boarding two separate boats for Florida and then going to NASA, Bahamas.
He said that his Fujian smugglers hired local men to arrange asylum and carry the woman and his group, but from the last leg from Bahamas to Miami, through smuggling operations in China, through smuggling operations in China. The ban and the logistics were integrated.
Services do not come cheap.
The woman said that when she arrived safely to the United States, she paid more than $ 10,000 with the promise to pay an additional $ 22,000.
She said it was a price that she was not willing to pay to avoid “fear and persecution”.
But passengers are not always charged the same amount.
“Everyone is received based on their own circumstances,” he said. “People who can pay more are asked to pay a higher price. The more you pay, the less dangerous the way you can take.
In China, the woman said, “Life has become very unbearable.”
He said his decision to leave China was made of disappointment. “I’m very scared to go back,” he said. “I know something bad with me.”
“During the Covid 19 pandemic diseases, China has always maintained the concept of improving people’s lives first and scientific and accurately improving square prevention measures,” said Pangio. “China’s epidemic prevention and control policy is scientific, effective, which is in accordance with China’s national conditions, and can test history. At the same time, I want to emphasize that China’s rule of law There is a country, and the Chinese government protects its citizens’ lawful rights.
Freedom for a moment
Riding on the boat in the Bahamas water, large waves shook him and other passengers violently. “I remember thinking that we are all going to make caps,” he said.
But after several hours in the sea, the boat eventually stopped on a remote island. It was already near midnight and the temperature had dropped. After a sharp storm, after a traumatic night where he said immigrants were told not to turn their phone on, fear that the light would inform the authorities, they boarded the second boat on a day break, US soil. , Departed for coral.
“When we arrived, it was a great pleasure on the faces of other passengers,” he said.
But this happiness did not last long.
“Just two minutes later, we were all arrested,” he said.
Since she was taken into custody of the CBP, the woman said she had been treated very well.
“Everyone here has been very kind to me,” he said. “They are even congratulating me for the Chinese New Year.”
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to the NBC News’ opinion.
The hope of coming to the United States was eventually joining relatives living in another state. Whether he has the opportunity, he will remain in the courts.
“The United States is a land that operates under law and human rights,” he said. “That’s why it is the best country in the world.”
