WATCH: Chinese Nationals Encountered by Fox News Crew at Southern Border

Susie Moore reporting for RedState 

We’ve been covering the ongoing crisis at the southern border extensively at RedState. A sampling of that coverage from just the past week:

Chaos at the Border: Massive Crowd of at Least 1000 Storms Port of Entry Near El Paso

Despite the Del Norte Bridge Illegal Surge, Dems Refuse to Attend Border Field Hearing

As Mayorkas Continues to Lie, Biden Continues to Do Zero to Secure Southern Border

Skyrocketing Number of Deaths Shows Human Cost of Biden’s Border Graveyard’

Meanwhile, the Biden administration appears intent to turn a blind eye to the chaos and destruction spurred on by their lax policies. As Bob Hoge so aptly put it:

The only conclusion one can make from Biden’s absolute refusal to deal with the border—along with his surrogate “border czar” Kamala Harris—is that this is what they want.

Neither has found the time to even visit the Rio Grande, much less take effective action to stem the flow of illegals. There are costs here—and the costs are the corpses of the unfortunate souls who embarked on a perilous journey feeling they had an express invitation from the Biden administration—which in effect, they did.

I always find it histrionic when writers write that a politician has “blood on his hands,” but in this case, there is a tragic rise in dead people, and that rise can be directly laid at the feet of Biden and his border policies.

In addition to the very real human costs outlined above, there remains the looming threat to national security as well. A February hearing before the House Oversight Committee confirmed that nearly 100 individuals on the FBI’s terror watch list were apprehended at the border in Fiscal Year 2022. Moreover, we know that illegal immigrants from over 160 countries have been encountered at the border.

China would be one of those countries, as noted by Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins in this Sunday morning tweet regarding an encounter with Chinese nationals on Saturday:

What’s interesting about the group (in addition to their country of origin being more than 7,000 miles distant) is their attire and lack of baggage/equipment. They look like they’re simply out for a leisurely Saturday stroll. One is forced to wonder: Where did they come from? And, more importantly, why?

In the video, though their English is limited, they acknowledge they are from China. And they are far from alone. As noted by Customs and Border Protection Chief Gloria Chavez (one of the witnesses who testified at the aforementioned Oversight hearing) notes that in Fiscal Year 2023 alone, there have been 1,577 apprehensions of Chinese immigrants — and that’s just in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) sector.

CBP data backs up the fact that record numbers of Chinese nationals have been entering the U.S. illegally since Joe Biden took office.

The number of Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. has significantly increased under the Biden administration, beginning around the 2020 election, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Nationwide, 18,395 Chinese nationals were apprehended in fiscal 2020; 23,471 in fiscal 2021; 27,756 in fiscal 2022; and 10,587 in the fiscal year to date.

The vast majority are single adults. In fiscal 2020, 18,014 apprehended were single adults; 23,172 were single adults in fiscal 2021; 26,447 were in fiscal 2022, and 9,772 were so far in fiscal year 2023.

The numbers have become so significant, that special measures have been implemented to address the added language barrier.

Chinese nationals make up such a significant number of gotaways that rescue beacons were established along the southern border and have instructions in Mandarin. Gotaways are those who intentionally seek to evade capture from law enforcement after illegally entering between ports of entry. At least 1.2 million gotaways have been reported since President Joe Biden’s been in office, a record, although that number is expected to be significantly higher because not all gotaways are recorded.

Rescue beacons positioned throughout the southern border help Border Patrol agents rescue foreign nationals attempting to make it through desert-like and remote areas. The structures are tall and white and look like antennas with a blue light at the top. About eye level is a red button and a sign with instructions in English, Spanish and Mandarin that reads: “If you need help push the red button. Help will arrive. Do not leave the area.”

The beacons also have instructions with a diagram to show people how to push the button. Once they push it a signal is sent to a nearby Border Patrol station so agents can come and rescue them. If the beacons weren’t there, those relying on them would likely die, law enforcement officers told The Center Square.

I suppose that’s one sort of “operational control,” Secretary Mayorkas. The question is: Whose?