Illegal Chinese immigrants land in U.S. limbo

Political tango
But U.S. and Chinese political postures also play a role. U.S. asylum policy grants residency to Chinese citizens who can show they are likely to be persecuted if they return to China on the grounds of their politics, religious beliefs or affiliations, or under China's restrictive birth control policy. It is a persistent irritant to Beijing, which views U.S. policy as interference.

"We think it is not favorable to cracking down on illegal immigrants," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Liu Jianchao said of the asylum cases at a recent news conference.

He may have been making a political point, but he expressed a practical reality. To avoid expedited removal, all a migrant has to do is cite a fear of persecution to the detaining officer, or express an intention to apply for asylum. Then the process kicks in — the migrant is sent to an asylum officer for a "credible fear" interview.

"In many cases of organized smuggling we have found (the immigrants) have been carefully coached by the snakeheads," said Homeland Security spokeswoman Virginia Kice, referring to organizers of human smuggling operations.

In 2004, the most recent year for which data is available, Chinese were second to Haitians among nationalities seeking U.S. asylum, with 2,839 asylum cases filed. About 25 percent of Chinese cases ultimately end in the granting of asylum — compared to 35 percent for Haitians, and 45 percent for applicants from Venezuela and Colombia — but the process of sifting through legitimate and fraudulent claims can take several years.

"We may get the final removal order in some cases," said Kice, "But unless we can implement the final order, at some point we’re going to have to release them … some of them may abscond. There’s no question about it."

Tough measures, tough opposition
In the debate over immigration, some of the most conservative voices are proposing tough — critics say Draconian — legislation to prevent migrants from lingering in the United States. One such provision would give Homeland Security the authority to turn back any visitors arriving from countries that, like China, are deemed uncooperative in taking back their nationals.

That would certainly get Beijing's attention, but critics are appalled that the measure survived legislative debate. If legitimate Chinese travelers were suddenly turned back at U.S. ports of entry, they say, China would almost certainly retaliate in kind, putting in peril the legitimate and extensive business, educational and cultural relationships cultivated over the last few decades.

"It would create huge diplomatic problems," predicts a congressional staffer who works on the immigration issue.

"It's really stupid," agreed Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., adding that the provision likely won't be used and wouldn't solve the problem even if it was.

"I think the highest level of government — the president if necessary — should tell the government of China that if they want to have a business relationship with the United States, they have to solve the problem," she said. "It may be embarrassing to (China) to deal with it in a statement, so it’s not required. I just want them to change their behavior."

The White House declined to say whether the issue of repatriation is on the agenda in talks between Presidents Hu and Bush.

Another provision contained in both House and Senate immigration bills would add 10,000 detention beds for illegal immigrants, and seek to extend the length of time they can be detained. But that provision runs counter to a 2001 Supreme Court decision, Zadvydas vs. Davis, that bars indefinite detention of individuals who have been ordered removed but cannot be repatriated.

Meantime, one thing U.S. lawmakers and Chinese officials seem to agree on is the need for beefed up enforcement of port security and measures to prevent the human smuggling operations at the heart of the problem. Many illegal immigrants, who typically pay anywhere from $10,000 to $70,000 for false documentation or illegal transportation out of China, end up as indentured workers in their new homelands, trying to pay off their debt to snakeheads for years. Some have paid with their lives in schemes that went horrifically awry.

So, while the Chinese migrants arrested in Seattle are held at a detention facility in Tacoma, U.S. officials are for now focused less on their immigration cases than on launching a criminal investigation in which these 22 people could become material witnesses.

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