Authored by Aldgra Fredly via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday that it had deported a group of Chinese illegal immigrants on Oct. 15, the second removal flight to China this year.

The DHS confirmed to The Epoch Times that 131 Chinese migrants were removed on a chartered flight on that date.

The DHS described an initial flight in June as the largest removal flight since 2018. The department did not specify the number of people deported for that flight.

In an Oct. 17 statement, the DHS said that the latest removal flight demonstrates its commitment to “pursuing sustained cooperation” with China and other countries over illegal immigrants.

The DHS did not say how long the illegal immigrants had been staying in the United States before their deportation.

“Intending migrants should not believe the lies of smugglers—Chinese nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to swift removal,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “The Department of Homeland Security will continue to strengthen consequences for individuals unlawfully entering our country and enforce our nation’s laws.”

Illegal immigration has been a key issue in the 2024 presidential race.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, there have been more than 73,700 apprehensions of Chinese nationals nationwide since October 2023, with half of them occurring at the southern border.

The United States and China resumed cooperation on the deportation of Chinese nationals in May, nearly two years after China suspended the agreement following then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, a self-governing island that the Chinese communist regime claims as its own.

In a May 13 statement to media outlets, the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that the regime is open to working with the United States on the repatriation of illegal immigrants provided that Washington gives “reciprocal attention to China’s concerns” and creates “a proper atmosphere for cooperation.”

Republicans on the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability held a hearing on May 16 to raise concerns over the “unprecedented flow of Chinese nationals” illegally crossing the U.S. southern border.

The federal government eased the vetting process last year, with Border Patrol agents reducing the number of vetting questions for Chinese nationals from 40 to only five questions, the subcommittee said in a statement in May.

The subcommittee’s chairman, Dan Bishop (R-N.C.), said the vetting process may be inadequate to protect national security.

“As the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues its quest for geopolitical dominance and threatens our sovereignty, we must examine the risks presented by releasing ever-increasing numbers of minimally vetted Chinese nationals into our communities,” Bishop said in the statement.

“A wide-open border presents a ripe opportunity for the CCP to undermine our national security. We must be cleared-eyed about the threats this historic development presents.”

Democrats on the House Homeland Security subcommittee dismissed those concerns, characterizing them on their website as “another Republican border ‘hearing’ with invasion rhetoric and fear-mongering.”

Experts invited to testify indicated that the vetting process was unlikely to find any criminal background information on Chinese nationals who have never been in the United States because China does not readily share that information with U.S. authorities.

Simon Hankinson, senior research fellow with The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told the committee that “it is statistically probable that DHS is releasing people with criminal records.”

Darlene McCormick Sanchez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.