Migrants are using TikTok to find openings in the southern US border, according to a new report. The Chinese video-sharing application, which millions of Americans use, features videos with instructions on how to get into the United States undetected. CBS journalists spoke to Chinese migrants at an opening near San Diego, and they admitted they knew about the gap because they had seen it on TikTok. Reporters scanned the application and found instructions on locating and hiring people smugglers, among other suggestions.
The number of Chinese citizens crossing the border has exploded, and data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency claims the figure has increased by around 50 times, from 450 people in 2021 to 24,314 in 2023.
Speaking to Fox News, field reporter Julio Rosas said Chinese immigrants are making long and arduous journeys to Mexico because they believe the open border presents a unique opportunity. “Confucius Never Said” author Helen Raleigh agreed, telling Fox’s Laurence Jones that they do it because so many others have done it and faced no consequences. She added, however, that China is in economic turmoil, and high youth unemployment is driving its young people West.
The CBP claims that the Chinese are now the largest immigrant group coming to the US, and they usually make their way to the border by flying to Ecuador, where visas are not required, and making their way to the US by road. Statistics show that a staggering 150 Chinese nationals have crossed the American border every day since last October. They were part of a group of more than one million people who entered America illegally between October 2023 and February 2024. Chinese migrants tend to stand out, according to some reports, because they arrive with new luggage and wear clean designer clothing.
A TikTok spokesperson responded to the revelations that its platform is aiding illegal immigration, saying, “TikTok strictly prohibits human smuggling, which we remove from our platform and report to law enforcement when warranted.”
