Rep. Troy E. Nehls, Chairman Green, and Sen. Marco Rubio Introduce the No Asylum for CCP Spies Act

WASHINGTON, D.C.—  This week, Congressman Troy E. Nehls (R-TX-22), Chairman Mark Green of the House Homeland Security Committee, and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio introduced the bicameral No Asylum for CCP Spies Act. This legislation would prohibit members of “communist or totalitarian parties” from being granted asylum in the United States. Current immigration law already makes this prohibition for visa eligibility and admittance, as well as naturalization.

Under this legislation, members of communist or totalitarian parties would be prohibited from being granted asylum in the United States unless they meet several high-bar exceptions, including publicly renouncing their membership through an approved government service, denouncing the party during the asylum adjudication process, proving that their membership was involuntary, and being deemed by the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security as not being a danger to the security of the United States. This legislation would allow members of communist and totalitarian parties to be granted asylum if they have significant information regarding national security.  

This legislation comes as Chinese nationals are increasingly arriving at the U.S. border. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has already encountered nearly 40,000 Chinese nationals along either the U.S. northern or southern border, with over 6,000 encounters of Chinese nationals in the month of July alone. This year’s totals have exceeded FY21 and FY22, whose numbers were around 23,500 and 27,800, respectively.Chinese migrants currently have an asylum decision grant rate of 57%, according to the Department of Justice, which is statistically higher than many countries.Of asylum claims granted in FY23, China has the most asylum requests granted with 2,681, and the 8th most asylum requests in total.  

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is our nation’s greatest foreign adversary,” said Congressman Troy E. Nehls. “Due to the Biden Administration’s complete and utter failure to secure our borders, migrants from all over the world are being encountered at both our northern and southern border, with record numbers of Chinese nationals claiming asylum. Asylum is intended to be a form of protection that allows an individual to remain in the United States instead of being removed to a country where they will face persecution. If these individuals claiming asylum in the United States are members of the CCP, they are not in fear of returning to Communist China. They are here to infiltrate our society, steal our intellectual property, gain our country’s secrets, and report back to Xi Jinping. I am proud to work with Senator Rubio and my other colleagues in introducing this critical piece of legislation to keep Communist Chinese spies out of our country.”

“CBP has encountered a record number of Chinese nationals at the Southwest border, with totals exceeding FY21 and FY22,” said Chairman Mark Green of the House Homeland Security Committee. “I’m proud to co-lead Senator Rubio’s No Asylum for CCP Spies Act in the House with Congressman Nehls—a solution to protect our national security from individuals associated with communist parties seeking to harm our national security.”

Cosponsors of the No Asylum for CCP Spies Act include Representatives Byron Donalds (R-FL-19), Bill Posey (R-FL-8), and Beth Van Duyne (R-TX-24).

Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) introduced companion legislation in the Senate with Roger Marshall (R-KS), Rick Scott (R-FL), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Mike Braun (R-IN), and Pete Ricketts (R-NE) as original cosponsors. 

“The American people are facing the repercussions of the Biden Administration’s open border policy, which is creating chaos and putting our communities at risk,” said Senator Marco Rubio. “We don’t know who’s illegally entering our nation. This presents an opportunity for the Chinese Communist Party to further take advantage and threaten our democracy and national security interests.”

“Since Joe Biden refuses to stop the flow of Chinese nationals streaming across our southern border, Senator Rubio’s No Asylum for CCP Spies Act is needed to disincentivize these individuals from invading our country,” said Senator Roger Marshall. “We must strip asylum eligibility from the communist spies who are no doubt hiding among the masses at the southern border.”

“Communist China’s murderous leaders and the thugs that carry out the brutal agenda of Xi’s regime cannot be trusted and cannot be allowed to ‘seek asylum’ in America as a front for spying,” said Senator Rick Scott. “The No Asylum for CCP Spies Act is good for our national security and actually protects those who have legitimate asylum claims from being hurt by bad actors. I urge my colleagues for their support of this good bill.”

“We’ve now apprehended, under President Joe Biden’s watch, over 170 different nationalities crossing our border illegally, including 40,000 nationals from Communist China in this year alone,” said Senator Bill Hagerty. “This bill would ensure that the CCP can’t exploit Biden’s broken border policies to spy, steal, and otherwise harm U.S. national interests.”

“While the CCP grows more eager to undermine U.S. sovereignty by any means necessary, President Biden’s open border policies have welcomed nearly 40,000 Chinese nationals to our country in the last year,” said Senator Marsha Blackburn. “We need to know exactly what their intentions and affiliations are before they are allowed in via asylum or any legal means. Xi Jinping’s communist way of life has no place in the United States.”