The Chinese migrants risking it all for the American dream | 101 East Documentary

Asylum Seekers from China are crossing the US Mexico border in record numbers they're hoping to start new lives in the United States in 2023 tens of thousands of Chinese made the trip it's a Securus Journey born of desperation most Chinese Nationals can't secure visas for the United States so some are resorting to getting there illegally through Latin America on social media this grueling Expedition by land sea and on foot is known as joen or walking route in the first of a two-part investigation 101 East meets the Chinese migrants risking everything for the American dream Han Lea's journey to America began in the middle of the night during the covid-19 pandemic in 2022 Han filmed as he headed for the airport this video is a reminder of his final moments in China Han was a school teacher in anui province financially secure and well respected by his community but he is also a Christian and although the Chinese government says it respects religious freedom Han feared for his own safety for Han didn't travel alone his companions and fellow Asylum Seekers were old friends who shared his Christian faith they'd all had no luck obtaining us visas 32-year-old joyu says it was his girlfriend fuing who convince them to take drastic [Music] action the term joen or walking route started trending on Chinese social media in 2022 and refers to an Overland journey to [Music] America the first stop is keto in Ecuador a country that Chinese passport holders can visit Visa free from there the migrants enter Colombia illegally and travel to the coastal town of noi they then cross the sea to a candy near the border with Panama before heading north to the United States he's referring to an area known as the Daran Gap often called one of the world's most dangerous migration routes it's the only piece of land connecting Central and South America here there are no roads the terrain is unforgiving and migrants regularly fall victim to criminal [Music] gangs [Music] for a record half a million migrants from all over the world crossed the daring Gap in 2023 more and more of them are Chinese citizens authorities in Panama say they were the fourth biggest group by nationality in the first 9 months of 2023 why they take this dangerous way because they couldn't get the US Visa Chang Chang is a democracy activist and immigration lawyer practicing in New York and California the United States and the China government deeply distrust each other I believe that's the reason why United States government does not issue so many visas to Chinese people anymore yeah Asylum Seekers Ethan Wang and his sister Maggie are two of Chen's youngest clients the children crossed the southern US border with their parents and grandparents in May 2023 they'd been on the road for 31 days their father Jackson says there was a time when he thought they weren't going to make it they were traveling on a night like this one in small motorized boats from a candy in Colombia to coretto in Panama fore spee [Music] Jackson says for years he longed to live in a country where his family could practice their Christian faith freely but it was the pandemic that finally pushed him to [Music] act for the Ws fled in early 2023 several months after Beijing East pandemic related travel restrictions to conceal their itinery they decided to go first to semi-autonomous Hong Kong before making their way to Ecuador function after a few days in the city they received an unexpected call for help from the family of 15-year-old shun Yu Hong like the Wes the teenager and his parents were also trying to get to America his sister yanga blames herself Yang sha and her husband are democracy activists who left China for the US in 2016 now living in Los Angeles they continue to be vocal critics of the Chinese Communist Party yanga believes an incident in 2019 triggered the backlash against her family for reasons that remain unclear yuong was allowed to enter to Hong Kong even though his parents had been turned [Music] away the desire to get to America by any means possible has turned one Chinese migrant into an unlikely internet celebrity cha or tiang as he is better known started his journey with a mobile phone data plan and very little else but posts like these won him tens of thousands of followers on social media enabling him to crowdfund his way across Latin America thank you thank you it was social media that landed Chena in trouble in 2021 he was sentenced to 14 months in jail for posts that were deemed to have hurt the interests and image of China even before he was released Tia knew he had to leave go go along the walking route tianga live streamed whenever he could revealing a thriving industry built around migrants like himself migrants with deeper Pockets can pay for an easier [Music] Journey it's not just human traffickers who are profiting according to Tia the Honduran police officer in this video wanted money from him and from the migrants he was with Jo Yu anding say they had a similar experience in Guatemala neither the Honduran nor Guatemalan authorities could explain to W East the alleged actions of their police officers after crossing the Daren Gap migrants have to head north through multiple countries before arriving at the US border there are numerous checkpoints and roadblocks along the way the group of friends made it to Mexico [Music] City but they celebrated too soon they were held in a Mexican immigration detention center for 4 days then sent back south to a Mexican town near the border with Guatemala where they were caught and detained again after this the three migrants decided to turn to local traffickers for help they paid $2,000 [Music] each tenar also spent much of his time in Mexico evading police and immigration authorities to do so he had to travel by boat on the back of trucks on foot and even on the commercial flight from Mexico City to Tana next to the US border he was released a day later and in this live stream the following night tenar revealed he was near the US border foreign [Music] [Applause] fore [Music] for ten G says a gate in the second wall then opened officers from the US Border Police had come to get them before being taken away Way T made this video he completed the walking route Jackson thought the final leg of their Journey would be relatively easy but he was wrong the migrants pretended they didn't understand Yu Hong explains what happened next Jackson spent days trying to find alternate routes to the wall but none worked in the end he went back to the gang that had threatened them previously the Wongs have been in the United States since May 2023 and now live in Los Angeles Jackson says it's been a challenge navigating the Asylum application process the family was separated after being arrested at the border and while everyone else was released soon after Jackson's mother Lee chai Lan spent 34 days in Immigration detention she'd had trouble explaining why she was entering the country illegally we ask if she found the experience frightening it's the 4th of July and the Ws are joining in the festivities to Mark the occasion Jackson come dressed in some special [Music] clothes America sweet Amer Jackson still can't quite believe they've all made it here to a country that seemed so unreachable not too long ago Yu Hong is also adapting to life in a new country but his sister Yang sha is now worried about her husband's relatives who are facing harassment by local police in China her husband ganun tells us his parents and niece are being punished after his brother fled for America [Music] Guan jun's younger brother Hong Jun is now in keto Ecuador we've come to Colombia Hong Jun has made it here and we're hoping to meet him our destination is nle a Seaside Town 780 km north of the capital bogatar this area was once a relatively quiet getaway for Beach lovers but it's now better known as the staging ground for migrants planning to hike the Daran Gap here they can catch fairies across the sea to begin their track we managed to find Hong Jun he's with two other Chinese [Laughter] migrants their local guide is standing nearby but he's nervous and the migrants tell us to keep our [Laughter] distance Hong jun's companions are Newly Weds and devout Catholics W CH says they left China for the sake of their future children to prepare for the Trek the migrants spent several hours buying hiking gear they also visit a supermarket to stock up on Food they'll need enough to last up to a week while trying not to overload their bags the next 2 days are spent waiting and wondering when they can leave despite the clear skies the migrants are told it's too risky to travel right now these are particularly stressful times for Hong Jun he says police in China have been harassing his parents again for days later a steady stream of Travelers starts converging on the beach the boats are leaving again demand for tickets is intense Hong Jun and the young couple Yen and chongyang wait hours before it's their turn to [Music] board they set off shortly after the most dangerous part of their Journey just over the horizon next week we reveal if they succeed and investigate what happens to some Chinese migrants once they've made it to America

Channel: Al Jazeera English

Views: 454,543

Keywords: 101 East, Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, American Dream, Beijing, China, China Documentary, Chinese, Documentary, Drug Cartels, Human Trafficking, Latin America, Migrants, Migration, US Documentary, al Jazeera, al jazeera English, al jazeera live, al jazeera video, aljazeera English, aljazeera latest, aljazeera live, aljazeera live news, latest news, news headlines, Asia, Pacific

Id: JPxBR1btHvk

Length: 25min 20sec (1520 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 22 2024