Krishnamoorthi Presses DHS to Grant Asylum to Guan Heng, Whistleblower Who Documented Uyghur Detention Camps in Xinjiang

WASHINGTON — House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi yesterday sent a letter to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem urging the immediate release and asylum approval of Guan Heng (关恒), a Chinese national who documented the Chinese Communist Party’s mass detention camps targeting Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang and now faces deportation by U.S. immigration authorities.

In the letter, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi stresses the United States’ moral and legal obligations to protect human rights whistleblowers, writing:

“The United States has a moral responsibility to stand up for victims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, as well as the brave individuals who take immense personal risks to expose these abuses to the world. We also have a legal responsibility to protect those who seek refuge in our country from persecution by authoritarian governments, such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC).”

He warns that those obligations are at risk of being abandoned, citing reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement may be seeking to deport:

 “a young man from Henan, China [who] drove alone into Xinjiang . . . [and] us[ed] a telephoto lens to document the concentration camp facilities hidden in the wilderness, towns, and military camps.”

Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi urges that Mr. Guan be released from detention and granted asylum, emphasizing that his case reflects the very purpose of U.S. asylum law:

“He has a pending asylum application, and the circumstances of his departure from the PRC are a textbook example of why asylum exists.”

The letter underscores the grave danger Mr. Guan would face if deported, noting his mother’s warning that “if he gets sent back [to China], he’s really dead,” and explaining that:

“The Chinese Communist Party does not hesitate to imprison entire communities merely on the basis of their heritage or religion, and it similarly does not hesitate to imprison and even execute those it accuses of subverting its authority, regardless of ethnicity.”

 Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi cautions that deporting Mr. Guan would make the United States complicit in these abuses, writing:

“The United States should not be complicit in the detention, torture, or worse of individuals who bravely documented the human rights abuses of the Chinese Communist Party.”

The letter further warns that Mr. Guan’s detention may not be an isolated case, stating:

 “By indiscriminately targeting immigrant communities in an effort to meet aggressive deportation quotas, ICE is putting fear in the hearts of individuals who came to America to escape fear.”

 Accordingly, and as part of Congress’s oversight responsibilities, Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi requested that DHS provide a written response no later than January 1, 2026, addressing the following questions:

1. How many asylum or CAT (Convention Against Torture) applications or petitions are currently pending in which an individual asserts they were a victim of human rights abuses in the PRC, an advocate on behalf of victims of the foregoing, or face a risk of persecution in the PRC as a result of their human rights-related activities?

2. How many individuals with asylum or CAT applications or petitions described in the preceding question are currently detained or in deportation proceedings?

3. How many individuals who had asylum or CAT (Convention Against Torture) applications or petitions in which an individual asserted they were a victim of human rights abuses in the PRC, an advocate on behalf of victims of the foregoing, or faced a risk of persecution in the PRC as a result of their human rights-related activities have been deported since January 1, 2025?

 The letter is available here.