Entry and Inspection FAQs

Table of Contents

• Who is denied entry under Proclamation 10043?
• Where do these denials of entry happen?
• If I’m pulled aside for secondary inspection at a port of entry, what can I expect?
• Know your rights
• References

Who is denied entry under Proclamation 10043?

Unfortunately, the proclamation is intentionally vague and does not offer official criteria for what makes a person suspicious. According to a Bloomberg report from May 2024, this is because “officials want to be able to expand or change the definitions of what constitutes a threat as needed.”

Many of students who had their visas canceled when the proclamation initially went into effect graduated from the following eight universities:

• Beihang University
• Beijing Institute of Technology
• Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
• Harbin Engineering University
• Harbin Institute of Technology
• Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
• Nanjing University of Science and Technology
• Northwestern Polytechnical University

Even spending a short amount of time at one of these institutions as an undergraduate before transferring to another school, including to schools in the US, can cause a denial of entry as a graduate or postdoctoral scholar. Students from other top Chinese schools, such as Tsinghua University and Peking University, have also been denied entry.

Where do these denials of entry happen?

Most cases have occurred at airports. In late 2023, so many denials occurred at Washington Dulles International Airport that the Chinese Embassy issued a travel warning for students traveling through that airport. Other airports where these denial incidents have occurred include Houston Airport, Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, Boston Logan International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport, Philadelphia International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport. Chinese students have also been subject to questioning and denial of entry at land ports of entry, such as the US-Mexico border crossing.

If I’m pulled aside for secondary inspection at a port of entry, what can I expect?

• Interrogations can last several hours in a small, dark room; some students were also held in solitary confinement for long hours or overnight. In one case, the detainment lasted for 28 hours.
• Expect to be asked to have all your immigration documents and proof of acceptance/attendance at your university.
  • Make sure your answers to questions (e.g. “What’s your field of study?”) match what is written on your I-20 document exactly.
• Be ready to answer succinctly why your field of study does not involve dual-use or direct export of sensitive technology. If you do not know how to answer this question, talk to your PI or academic advisor.
  • Reports suggest that CBP issues the majority of denials to individuals who are studying in science and technology fields, although scholars in non-STEM fields have also been targeted. Students working with applicable technology (e.g. biotechnology, artificial intelligence, machine learning) are scrutinized more closely.
  • Most previously denied students never learned exactly what led the CBP to issue a denial of entry and/or visa ban. Due to the vague wording of Proclamation 10043, officers may use any supposed discrepancy in a student’s records as grounds for issuing a denial of entry. If you are worried that you may be targeted, consider developing a Plan of Study document with your department and school’s international student service. This document aims to identify the requirements and scope of your graduate or postdoctoral training.
• Be able to explain your funding sources.
  • You may be pressured into acknowledging factual falsehoods that may jeopardize your (re-)entry, such as being affiliated with non-US, adversarial funding sources.
  • Ask your PI or academic advisor so you understand thoroughly your academic funding sources and be prepared to show proof to the customs officer.
• Additional questions during secondary inspection is targeted towards identifying any personal and/or academic connections to the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese military:
  • Why did you choose this program?
  • Why are you doing this research?
  • Where did you finish your bachelor’s/masters degrees? Who was your supervisor and what was your funding source for those degrees?
  • Are you/your parents CCP members?
  • Do you/your parents know CCP members?
  • Do you/your parents have connections with the Ministry of Education?
  • Do/did you receive funding from the CCP or China Scholarship Council, in either undergraduate or graduate school?
  • Are/were you engaged in confidential research?
  • Did you participate in military service in China?
  • Has your research been passed to the Chinese military?
  • Are you part of the Thousand Talents Program?
• Your devices (phone, laptop, etc) and documents may be confiscated for inspection.
  • If you can, remove any sensitive information on your devices, even if they seem innocuous (e.g. photos of you/your relatives in military uniform). You must be 100% forthright and truthful to avoid any repercussions.

Know your rights

• After secondary inspection, CBP officers must produce a transcript of the questioning. You have the right to review any written statements. You do not have the legal obligation to sign these documents if you don’t agree with the contents, don’t understand them, or believe they are misconstrued.
  • Previously, students reported that CBP officers told them misleading information about what they were signing, saying that the signature was just to certify that everything said was truthful, without allowing students to look at the contents. In a few cases, students discovered afterwards that the transcripts contained fabricated, incriminating statements.
• CBP maintains that you do not have the right to an attorney during primary and secondary inspection as a visa holder. However, it doesn’t hurt to have an attorney’s number and ask to speak to them. When/if traveling back to the U.S., be sure to communicate with your academic advisor and School leadership on how to prepare to have legal liaisons ready for your arrival.
• You have the right to request an interpreter if you are not fully comfortable in English
• If CBP tells you you are not allowed to enter the country, you can withdraw your request for admission to the US. They will normally not tell you that you have this right. If you do not request this, they can process you as an “expedited removal”, which carries a 5-year ban to reentry and cannot be appealed.
  • CBP may claim that re-entry is easy after reapplying for a visa and will not tell you about a potential 5 year visa ban.

References

1. American Immigration Lawyers Association, Ports of entry: know your rights. https://www.aila.org/File/Related/KYR%20Document%20on%20Port%20of%20Entry%20Detention%20for%20LPRs_2018_Custom.docx
2. Rory Truex, opinion contributor, The anti-China academic panic is hurting America (February 16, 2024). https://thehill.com/opinion/education/4472696-the-anti-china-academic-panic-is-hurting-america/
3. The Guardian, Chinese students in US tell of ‘chilling’ interrogations and deportations (April 20, 2024). https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/20/chinese-students-in-us-tell-of-chilling-interrogations-and-deportations
4. Jeffrey Mervis, A valid U.S. visa didn’t stop these Chinese graduate students from being deported (March 1, 2024). https://www.science.org/content/article/valid-u-s-visa-didn-t-stop-these-chinese-graduate-students-being-deported
5. Sheridan Prasso, Expulsions of Chinese Students Spread Confusion From Yale to UVA (May 29, 2024). https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-05-29/expulsions-of-chinese-students-spread-confusion-from-yale-to-uva
6. Mei Zhengqing, ‘Small black room’ remains obstacle for China-US people-to-people exchanges (March 25, 2024). https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202403/1309469.shtml
7. Raye Wu, Chinese students deported from US, Beijing says (September 3, 2021). https://thepienews.com/chinese-students-deported-from-us-airport/
8. 西学志, 无奈与焦虑：被夹在美中博弈下的中国留学生 (Jun 23, 2024). https://m.wforum.com/news/topicality/2024/06/23/447605.html
9. Lily Kuo and Cate Cadel, Chinese students, academics say they’re facing extra scrutiny entering U.S. (March 14, 2024). https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/03/14/china-united-states-university-students-border/
10. Ni Yuanshi,Liu Yang,Ma Xiao,Liu Jie,Joel Lerner, Chinese students’ dreams turned into nightmares at U.S. doorstep (February 6, 2024). https://today.line.me/hk/v2/article/XY7Ve7w