Chinese risk perilous journey in search of ‘freedom’ in the United States

Thousands of middle-class Chinese are trekking thousands of kilometres through the Americas to the southern US border.

Last year, Chinese businessman Li Xiaosan and his teenage son travelled 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) through Central America to reach the United States.

In Colombia, they were robbed at gunpoint and lost almost all their valuables. In Panama, they trekked through treacherous jungle and swamp, and in Mexico took a perilous 12-hour voyage by sea.

At Chinese New Year they video-chatted with family members back home in China, and Li’s son broke down in tears. Li told him: “Freedom is not free.”

Li and his son were among more than 37,000 Chinese nationals who were arrested for illegally crossing the US’s southern border in 2023, and Chinese nationals are now the largest group outside of the Americas to attempt the perilous journey. Many, like Li, are middle class.

“Everything about the country’s politics and economy was dark,” Li told Al Jazeera. “What’s the meaning of living there without any hope?”