The Department of Homeland Security announced on Tuesday that it conducted a deportation of Chinese illegal immigrants over the weekend, flying them back home on the first large deportation charter flight to China since 2018.

The DHS did not specify how many illegal immigrants were on the flight, saying that the removal of Chinese migrants was part of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas’ “continued efforts to engage the [People’s Republic of China] on areas of mutual interest.” Mayorkas was impeached by the Republican-controlled House of Representatives earlier this year over his handling of the border as record numbers of encounters have been reported under his watch. The Democrat-controlled Senate dismissed the articles of impeachment against him.

“We will continue to enforce our immigration laws and remove individuals without a legal basis to remain in the United States,” Mayorkas said in a press release announcing the deportation flight to China. “People should not believe the lies of smugglers.”

According to the DHS, “Together, the United States and PRC are working to reduce and deter irregular migration and to disrupt illicit human smuggling through expanded law enforcement efforts.”

While the exact number of Chinese migrants transported over the weekend remains unknown, one planeload of migrants pales in comparison to the number of Chinese nationals who Customs and Border Protection have apprehended under the Biden administration. CNN reported that in the first 11 months of 2023, 31,000 Chinese nationals were apprehended while attempting to unlawfully cross the U.S. southern border. That number was higher than the previous 10 years combined.

A DHS press release touted an executive order signed by President Biden last month that temporarily suspended the entry of some migrants into the country if daily border encounters pass 2,500.

“DHS enforces our immigration laws and delivers tough consequences for those who do not have a lawful basis to remain, consistent with international obligations,” the department added.

Biden has been criticized for waiting until months before a presidential election to take executive action on the border, action that House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called “window dressing.”

“If he was concerned about the border, he would have done this a long time ago,” Johnson added.

Citizens from U.S. nemesis China are not the only security concerns crossing the southern border. Last month, eight suspected terrorists with suspected links to ISIS were arrested after illegally entering the U.S. According to The New York Post, which cited “unnamed ICE sources,” the investigation into the suspected terrorists “featured a wiretap which revealed one of the now-arrested individuals was talking about bombs.”

The Biden administration has also been blasted for its handling of the border crisis in the wake of multiple murders allegedly committed by illegal immigrants. During last week’s debate, former President Donald Trump mentioned the alleged rape and murder of 12-year-old Texas girl Jocelyn Nungaray, saying that he spoke to her mother before taking the stage in Atlanta.

“This is horrible what’s taken place,” Trump said. “What’s taken place in our country, we’re literally an uncivilized country now.”