Following President Biden’s announcement on June 4, 2024, imposing strict restrictions on asylum seekers entering the United States, new cases in immigration courts continue to sharply decline. According to analysis based on court records by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) at Syracuse University, cases involving Chinese nationals (citizens of China) in immigration courts decreased by nearly half (44%) in July this year compared to July last year, with most of them related to asylum applications.
In July 2024, the total number of new immigration court cases in the United States dropped to 83,018, which is less than one-third (31%) of the cases in December of last year (2023), a reduction of over 180,000 cases.
Cases in immigration courts from most countries have experienced a decline. For instance, in December last year, cases involving Venezuelan immigrants accounted for the highest proportion of new cases, accounting for one-fifth; in July 2024 and December 2023, new applications from Mexican immigrants both ranked second among all nationalities, with Guatemala ranking third in December 2023.
In terms of numbers, the largest declines in immigration court cases were seen in Texas, New York, and Florida.
The number of Chinese citizens entering the United States through border crossings significantly decreased in July this year. According to TRAC’s analysis of data from immigration courts nationwide, there were 1,897 new deportation cases involving Chinese nationals in July, including those not physically detained but still under the supervision of immigration enforcement agencies. This figure represents a 30% decrease from June, which saw a reduction of 2,693 cases, and a 44% decrease from July 2023, which had 3,399 cases.
The trend of Chinese citizens entering the United States through border crossings began to increase noticeably in March of 2023. In January 2023, there were only 771 new deportation cases involving Chinese nationals, but this number doubled to 1,591 in February and increased significantly to 3,115 in April, quadrupling the cases in January.
In the latter half of 2023, the influx of Chinese border crossers surged, reaching peaks in September, October, November, December, and January and February of 2024. For example, in July 2023, there were 3,399 cases, showing a 38% increase from June’s 2,448 cases; September (4,300 cases) saw a 76% surge from June, and December (6,372 cases) doubled compared to June’s figure.
From January to May this year, the number of new deportation cases involving Chinese nationals remained around 3,500 to 4,000, but after President Biden’s announcement on June 4 regarding new border asylum policies, the numbers plummeted. In June (2,693 cases), there was a 28.4% decrease from May (3,763 cases), and in July, the cases further decreased to 1,897, a 50% drop from May.
On June 4, 2024, President Biden announced a series of strict restrictions on asylum seekers entering the country. These policies include the suspension and limitation of entry, invoking sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to suspend the entry of non-U.S. citizens illegally entering across the southern border of the United States. This order was accompanied by temporary final rules issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice, restricting the eligibility of illegal border crossers to apply for asylum. The new rules stipulate that immigrants who illegally cross the southern border will generally be ineligible for asylum unless there are exceptionally compelling reasons or other exemptions. Only those facing clear persecution or torture risks and meeting certain conditions may be exempted and have the opportunity to apply for asylum.