The southern border has long since stopped being about Mexico or Latin America. Anyone in the world can go down there.

And does.

As I noted last month, the number of Chinese nationals illegally crossing the border has been on the rise.

Illegal migration from China through the Mexican border rose significantly toward the end of last year, increasing fivefold from October to the end of January, compared to the entire previous fiscal year.

A few months ago, Border Patrol officers intercepted eleven Chinese migrants at the border hiding inside a washing machine, and a dresser, along with other pieces of furniture inside a moving truck. A month earlier, six Chinese migrants had been caught hiding inside the fake wall of another truck.

And it’s not just by land. In December, a boat tried to smuggle two Chinese nationals into California.

The numbers have gone up quite a bit since that 90+ total.

Some 328 immigrants from China have been caught crossing the border illegally so far this year, according to Homeland Security data that raises the prospect a coronavirus carrier could sneak into the country via the U.S.-Mexico border.

Three other people from South Korea — another country with rapidly spreading cases — have also been arrested at the border, as have 122 people from the Dominican Republican, where the coronavirus has now been detected.

The number of Chinese migrants appears to be rising sharply. I doubt that’s a coincidence. And these are the ones we catch.

We keep having coronavirus infections from unknown vectors popping up in different states. The obvious angle is illegal migrants.

Good thing, Senator Warren proposed redirecting funds from border security to fighting the coronavirus. First, drill a hole in the boat. Then bail out the water. 

That doesn’t just go for the coronavirus, but for crime, including all the concern about gun violence, drugs, and so many other social ills.