Some Chinese weigh painful question: Stay or flee under Trump?

LOS ANGELES - Ever since immigration raids swept Los Angeles in June, Mr Han Lihua, 46, has spent much of his time hiding in his apartment, skipping his Amazon delivery shifts and scrolling on social media to look for nearby sightings of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

In 2022, he fled China, where he ran an independent student newspaper and taught high school literature. He crossed the treacherous Darien Gap on the border of Colombia and Panama before crossing the southern border of the United States illegally in early 2023.

Now, with the Trump administration carrying out a sweeping immigration crackdown, he is among the Chinese immigrants who say fear has eclipsed their fragile new lives, forcing difficult questions about whether the US can offer them a better situation after they fled an authoritarian government.

“Everyone is so afraid,” Mr Han said. “I didn’t expect this would happen in the United States.”

Since China reopened its borders in January 2023 after Covid-19 lockdowns, more than 63,000 Chinese citizens like Mr Han have fled and crossed the US southern border without authorisation, according to the US Customs and Border Protection, making them the fourth-largest group by nationality after migrants from Venezuela, Haiti and Ecuador.

Under

President Donald Trump’s policies

, however, illegal crossings along the southern border have dropped dramatically, reaching 6,000 arrests in June, a low not seen in decades.

Most Chinese immigrants fled strict censorship, growing political repression or Beijing’s zero-Covid policies, which often

shut down entire cities for weeks

, if not months, trapping people in their homes with little access to food, medical care or work.

Those who spoke out against the policies could face harassment or detention. But with the Trump administration’s escalating immigration enforcement, many Chinese immigrants like Mr Han now confront a question they never imagined they would face: Should they stay or leave?

Mr Huang Xiaosheng, a Los Angeles-based Chinese immigration lawyer, described the situation as “much harsher” since May, when the Trump administration set a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests a day.

Securing bail has become nearly impossible, he said.

Some Chinese immigrants “are thinking about their Plan B”, Mr Huang said. “They’re considering Canada or other countries, or even going back to China.”

Immigration lawyers said Chinese immigrants could face criminal prosecution by the Chinese government if they are deported by the US, but those who return voluntarily probably would only be fined. NYTIMES