ICE arrests human rights lawyer who fled Chinese crackdown

ICE Detains Chinese National Wu Shaoping in Pennsylvania During Parcel Delivery

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained Chinese national Wu Shaoping on July 16 in Mount Holly Springs, Pennsylvania, while he was working as a delivery driver. Wu, who entered the United States on a tourist visa in late 2019 and filed an asylum application in 2020, remains in a Pennsylvania detention facility pending an immigration hearing scheduled for July 27.

Wu’s asylum claim has not received a final decision. The Executive Office for Immigration Review reports a backlog exceeding one million pending cases, with average processing times for affirmative and defensive asylum applications often extending several years. ICE has authority to detain individuals with pending claims when they come into contact with enforcement officers, though agency priorities and individual case factors determine outcomes.

According to an account provided by Wu’s friend Shi Minglei, who spoke with him after the arrest, officers requested proof of citizenship. Wu presented documentation of his pending asylum application and stated that he had entered the country legally. ICE took him into custody and transferred him to a detention center. The Department of Homeland Security and the specific facility did not provide comment outside regular business hours.

Wu worked as a commercial lawyer in China before handling cases involving religious minorities and political dissidents. Several lawyers engaged in similar work faced disbarment or other administrative actions during the 2010s. In December 2019, Wu attended a meeting of legal advocates in Xiamen. Chinese authorities later arrested multiple participants, including Ding Jiaxi and Xu Zhiyong, who were convicted of subversion of state power and remain imprisoned.

Wu left China shortly after the Xiamen meeting. His wife, Li Caoliu, who resides with him in the United States, stated that he sought greater personal freedoms and opposed aspects of China’s political system. Zhou Fengsuo, a 1989 Tiananmen Square participant now living in the United States, described the detention as generating concern among other Chinese nationals who have sought protection in the United States.

Shi Minglei reported that Wu expressed optimism about the asylum process but frustration over the arrest itself. Shi’s husband, Cheng Yuan, previously served a five-year sentence in China related to activism. Wu addressed an event earlier this month marking the tenth anniversary of a 2015 nationwide action against Chinese lawyers, describing the work as a professional responsibility rather than a symbolic gesture.

Human rights organizations have separately raised the case of Chinese journalist Bai Zhaodong, currently held in Thailand. The Chinese foreign ministry told Reuters that an extradition request has been submitted on suspicion of extortion and bribery. No U.S. government statement has linked the two matters.

Wu’s next immigration proceeding is set for July 27. Outcomes will depend on evidence presented regarding his asylum eligibility and any applicable enforcement guidelines.