Chinese whistleblower granted asylum after exposing Xinjiang abuses

Chinese dissident Guan Heng was scheduled to be released from immigration custody on Tuesday after a federal judge granted him asylum last week, finding that he faces a “well founded fear” of persecution if deported after filming abuses in Xinjiang’s detention camps.

About the decision: Judge Charles M. Ouslander deemed Guan’s testimony “credible and worthy of belief” at the hearing in Napanoch, New York, last Wednesday. He cited the State Department’s official finding that China committed genocide against Uyghurs, along with a department letter outlining Guan’s documentation work. The judge also noted that Chinese authorities had questioned Guan’s family about his whereabouts and past activities after the video’s release. Despite the ruling, Guan, who entered the U.S. illegally in 2021, remains detained as immigration officials may file an appeal over the next 30 days.

Why this matters: The decision stands out in an immigration system that has grown increasingly restrictive under President Donald Trump, with approval rates falling from 28% (2010-2024) to just 10% in 2025. The case also highlights friction between human rights and enforcement priorities. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), ranking member of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), called the outcome “a welcome and overdue affirmation of both American law and American conscience” and demanded Guan’s immediate release.

Hard-fought freedom: Guan’s journey began in 2020 when he covertly recorded Xinjiang’s detention camps, capturing footage that contradicted Beijing’s narrative that residents stayed willingly. In 2021, he escaped China via Ecuador, uploaded his videos to YouTube, then made a nearly 23-hour voyage by inflatable boat from the Bahamas to Florida. After the footage went public, authorities interrogated his father multiple times.

Last August, he was swept up in an enforcement operation that initially targeted his housemates, prompting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to propose sending him to Uganda, a nation with strong Beijing ties. The plan, however, was dropped in December following widespread criticism. His attorney, Chen Chuangchuang, called it a “textbook example of why asylum should exist,” emphasizing America’s “moral and legal responsibility” to grant protection.

Guan was moved from Broome County jail last Friday to an immigration detention facility in Batavia. He was set for release on Tuesday.