FRONTON, Texas— Lihua Wu’s journey to the United States began when she scrolled past the words “The Route,” one of several common hashtags on Douyin — the Chinese equivalent of TikTok — which advised migrants on the irregular land route across Latin America to the United States, also known online as “The Big Beautiful”.
When the single mother and her 5-year-old daughter were arrested by US border police on a dirt road near the US-Mexico border just before midnight on April 2, Wu said she had relied on social media to help Get detailed instructions on your trip, including shoes (Crocs as well as hiking boots) and how to find and pay for a reliable local guide.
Difficulty obtaining U.S. visas and the economic aftershocks of the COVID-19 lockdowns in China have prompted a sharp increase in the number of Chinese nationals presenting themselves at the U.S.-Mexico border — and some of those arrivals, like Wu, therefore, learned how to get online to migrants, immigration experts, lawyers and current and former US officials.
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