Since early 2021, the U.S. government has said China is committing genocide. But that designation may not be making a difference on America’s southern border, where U.S. officials are deporting Chinese nationals potentially back to danger.
Many immigrants seeking asylum from around the world are in dire circumstances, but for the primarily Muslim ethnic groups seeking refuge from China — like Uyghurs and Kazakhs, whom Democrats and Republicans have both said need to be protected from genocide — new border policies from the Biden administration, paired with a recent agreement on direct deportations to China, raise urgent questions.
In the northwest region of Xinjiang, these ethnic groups have been thrown into “reeducation” camps, where prisoners contend with horrific conditions. They’ve been subjected to forced labor. And the ones who aren’t imprisoned are still under constant scrutiny, as Chinese police track their every move — what kind of groceries they buy, if they grow beards, if they own books that might be a little too religious and if they visit foreign websites or text with friends who live in other countries.