This story was produced by our colleagues at the BBC.

Immigration will almost certainly be a defining issue in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

This fall, Republicans insisted that funding for Israel and Ukraine be coupled with action on U.S. border policy. President Joe Biden has been criticized for his handling of the migrant crisis and recently said he would be willing to sign a bill that would “shut down the border” if lawmakers sent him one.

But any such bill may be far away. House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that, despite not having the text of the Senate’s bipartisan immigration bill yet, it has “no way forward.” And former President Donald Trump has been vocal about attempting to kill the bipartisan legislation.

And all during this political infighting, an increasing number of migrants keep coming into the U.S. — but not all of them are from Mexico or Central and South America.

A record number of migrants from China are seeking entry in the U.S. via its border with Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 30,000 encounters along this route in 11 months ending in November.

Their overland journey starts in Ecuador — the closest visa-free country to the U.S. for Chinese nationals. It can cost around $3,000 just to get there, which is about three times the average monthly salary in mainland China.

Economic reasons are often at the heart of the decision to leave China: a slowing economy and high youth unemployment. Others cited the need to live “with dignity.” Many migrants are young and have heard about this route from Douyi, the Chinese version of TikTok. That’s the case for Lu, who — like others migrants — gave only his first name for privacy concerns.

“I’m very disappointed in the general environment in China. The society in China is built on entering through the back door, it’s difficult to do anything without some sort of a connection,” he said.

Another migrant, James, was traveling with two others and said he was prepared to risk everything to get to the U.S.

“Sometimes, you have to make decisions in your life. Going back to that place is a nightmare,” he said. “I’d rather die instead of going back, even though it’s so dangerous.”

The migrants use the bus network to head north, reaching Medellín, the second biggest city in Colombia, following a 26-hour journey from Tulcan, a border town in Ecuador.

“I just want to cry now,” said Yifan, who was traveling with friends. “It was already difficult enough, but we encountered those police flagrantly asking for money from us — not just asking for money, but also searching for the cash that we had hidden. They searched inside women’s sanitary pads and underwear.”

From here, they confront arguably the most treacherous part of the journey: It’s known as the Darién Gap, a rainforest that connects South and Central America at the border with Panama. It takes days to hike through and has been described as “one of the world’s most dangerous migration routes.”

The various routes through the Darién Gap also have associated “fares” — with safer pathways coming at higher costs. Chinese migrants were the fourth-highest nationality group to make the dangerous trek in the first nine months of 2023, according to the Associated Press.

Those who emerged from the jungle on the Panama side spoke of more hardship.

“The rainforest was so difficult to pass. After this time, I would never ever want to walk in the rainforest again,” said one.

Crossing one border almost every other day, the migrants continue to press north — toward the U.S. and the hope of a better life.

Correction (Feb. 6, 2024): A previous version of this story misstated the number of encounters recorded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.