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The Department of Homeland Security has dropped its program to deport a Chinese nationalist who entered the state illegally, 2 rights activists said connected Monday (December 22, 2025), aft his plight raised nationalist concerns that the man, if deported, would beryllium punished by Beijing for helping exposure quality rights abuses successful China's Xinjiang region.
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Rayhan Asat, a quality rights lawyer who assisted successful the case, said Guan Heng's lawyer received a missive from DHS stating its determination to retreat its petition to nonstop Guan to Uganda. Ms. Asat said she present expects Guan's asylum lawsuit to “proceed smoothly and favourably.”
Zhou Fengsuo, enforcement manager of the advocacy radical Human Rights successful China, besides confirmed the administration's determination not to deport Guan. “We're truly happy,” Ms. Zhou said.
The Department of Homeland Security didn't instantly respond to a petition for comment. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's database lists Guan, 38, arsenic a detainee.
His ineligible squad is moving to unafraid his merchandise from an ICE detention installation successful New York connected bond, some Mr. Zhou and Ms. Asat said.
Guan successful 2020 secretly filmed detention facilities successful Xinjiang, which activists accidental person been utilized to fastener up arsenic galore arsenic 1 cardinal members of taste minorities successful the region, particularly the Uyghurs. Beijing has denied allegations of rights abuses and says it has tally vocational grooming programs to assistance section residents larn employable skills portion rooting retired extremist thoughts.
Knowing helium could not merchandise the video footage portion successful China, Guan near the mainland successful 2021 for Hong Kong and past flew to Ecuador, which astatine the clip did not necessitate visas for Chinese nationals. He past travelled to the Bahamas, wherever helium bought a tiny inflatable vessel and an outboard centrifugal earlier mounting disconnected for Florida, according to the nongovernmental organisation Human Rights successful China.
After astir 23 hours astatine sea, Guan reached the coastline of Florida, according to the group, and his video footage of the detention facilities was released connected YouTube, providing further grounds of rights maltreatment successful Xinjiang, the rights radical said.
But Guan was soon doxxed, and his household backmost successful China was summoned by authorities information authorities, the radical said.
Guan sought asylum and moved to a tiny municipality extracurricular Albany, New York, wherever helium tried to unrecorded a quieter life, the radical said, until helium was detained by ICE agents successful August.
Public enactment for Guan, including successful Congress, has swelled successful caller weeks aft Zhou's radical publicised his case. Before Guan appeared successful tribunal earlier this month, U.S. lawmakers called for providing him with a harmless haven.
“Guan Heng enactment himself astatine hazard to papers attraction camps successful Xinjiang, portion of the CCP's genocide against Uyghurs,” the legislature Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission wrote connected X.com, referring to the Chinese Communist Party by its acronym.
“Now successful the United States, helium faces deportation to China, wherever helium would apt beryllium persecuted. He should beryllium fixed each accidental to enactment successful a spot of refuge.” Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois, the apical Democrat connected the House Select Committee connected the Chinese Communist Party, wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, urging her to merchandise Guan and o.k. his asylum request.
The U.S. “has a motivation work to basal up for victims of quality rights abuses successful Xinjiang, arsenic good arsenic the brave individuals who instrumentality immense idiosyncratic risks to exposure these abuses to the world,” Krishnamoorthi wrote.
