Illegal Chinese immigrants are flocking to San Diego, smuggled over the border with Mexico

The number of unauthorised Chinese immigrants coming to San Diego has skyrocketed in recent years, the result of a lucrative smuggling industry, mass emigration from China and a diversifying pool of unauthorised immigrants settling in the United States.

Border Patrol agents in the San Diego sector apprehended an estimated 663 Chinese nationals between October and May, compared with 48 Chinese nationals last fiscal year, five in fiscal 2014 and eight in fiscal 2013, according to data provided by US Customs and Border Protection.

Before that, “we just weren’t getting [Chinese nationals],” said Wendi Lee, a spokeswoman for the Border Patrol.

Lee said criminal organisations involved in smuggling maximise their profits by transporting Chinese immigrants, often charging each several thousands of dollars to get them across the border from Mexico.

“We’re talking anywhere from US$50,000 to US$70,000 per person,” said Lee. “The further you travel from, the more arrangements these criminal organisations have to make, the more expensive it will get.”

China has become one of the world’s leading sources of immigrants, according to a February report by the Migration Policy Institute.