As economy falters, more Chinese migrants take a perilous journey to the US border to seek asylum

By ELLIOT SPAGAT and DIDI TANG
Associated Press

SAN DIEGO (AP) — A major influx of Chinese migration to the United States on a relatively new and perilous route through Panama’s Darién Gap jungle has become increasingly popular thanks to social media. Chinese people were the fourth-highest nationality, after Venezuelans, Ecuadorians and Haitians, crossing the Darién Gap during the first nine months of this year, according to Panamanian immigration authorities. Chinese migrants using this route fly to Ecuador, which does not require them to have visas. They then make their way north to the U.S.-Mexico border. They say they’re seeking to escape an increasingly repressive political climate and bleak economic prospects.