Washington, September 30, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Two Chinese nationals have been charged in the United States for allegedly attempting to enter the country from Mexico using US passports belonging to American citizens, with federal prosecutors saying the case raises national security concerns.
Jin Fu Wei, 44, of Guangxi Province, and Xiaodan Lei, 47, of Henan Province, have been charged with misuse of a passport, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
The two had been in federal custody since their arrest last month and were expected to make their initial appearances in the US District Court in Los Angeles on Tuesday.
“Thanks to the diligent work of customs officers, two Chinese nationals attempting to use U.S. passports belonging to real American citizens were detained and now face federal felony charges,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said.
“This case is not only a criminal matter. It also raises serious national security concerns when foreign citizens are able to enter the United States under false identities. We have a right to know exactly who is crossing our borders and what their intentions are,” he added.
According to an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint, Wei and Lei travelled on August 26 on a commercial flight from Los Cabos International Airport in Mexico to John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, California.
Upon arriving at the US port of entry, both allegedly presented passports belonging to actual American citizens to officers of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The attempt was detected during biometric screening. According to the Justice Department, customs officers found that biometric identifiers associated with the passports did not match those of Wei and Lei.
Facial recognition scans also failed to match the two Chinese nationals with the photographs in the US passports they had presented.
Authorities identified another discrepancy when they found that neither Wei nor Lei appeared on the flight manifest, the official record listing passengers and crew aboard the aircraft.
Law enforcement officers subsequently detained the two for further examination of their admissibility into the United States.
Investigators also recovered documents from Wei that prosecutors say indicated he was using an identity that did not belong to him.
According to the Justice Department, Wei was carrying a Chinese credit card and a Chinese bank card bearing his own name, rather than the name of the legitimate passport holder. He also allegedly possessed an expired Texas driver’s licence belonging to the American citizen whose passport he was accused of using.
The charges remain allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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