As the criminal cases involving multiple Chinese nationals continue through Michigan courts, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents nabbed another in Flint on Tuesday.

“Marysville agents, with law enforcement partners, arrested seven illegal aliens from Mexico, Guatemala and one Special Interest Alien from China Tuesday,” Chief Patrol Agent John Morris posted to X. “The Chinese SIA had a prior conviction for disorderly conduct. All will be processed for removal.”

In a separate post, Morris, the CBP Detroit Sector chief, explained “Special Interest Aliens are from countries that pose a potential threat to the United States.”

The arrest Tuesday marked at least the third Chinese national apprehended by CBP agents in Michigan in the last month.

“Sault Ste. Marie agents, with law enforcement partners, arrested a Special Interest Alien from China previously charged with a felony for dangerous drugs,” Morris posted to X, along with a graphic on the June 12 arrest in Tawas City.

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Another Special Interest Alien from China was arrested in Tawas City on May 29, while three others were arrested by Detroit Sector agents in Westlake, Ohio on May 25, according to Morris’ posts.

The Michigan CBP arrests follow multiple criminal cases involving Chinese students at the University of Michigan that are fueling efforts to curb foreign influences in the state.

Last week, federal officials identified a ninth University of Michigan scholar from China tied to alleged crimes in Michigan following an arrest at the Detroit airport.

The announcement marked the second week in a row federal officials announced charges against a Chinese national for efforts to smuggle biological materials into the U.S., the latest in a series of alleged crimes involving Chinese UM students dating back to 2023.

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The U.S. Attorney’s Office contends Chengxuan Han mailed packages believed to contain biological samples of round worms between September 2024 and March to the UM Professional Laboratory where she was invited to work, The Detroit News reports.

Han, a Chinese citizen pursuing a PhD from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, was charged with smuggling goods into the United States and providing false statements to federal officials, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Her arrest followed less than a week after U.S. Attorney Jerome Gorgon announced charges of smuggling, false statements, and visa fraud against UM researcher Yunqing Jian, 33, and her boyfriend, Zunyong Liu, 34, both Chinese nationals.

“The FBI arrested Jian in connection with allegations related to Jian’s and Liu’s smuggling into America a fungus called Fusarium graminearum, which scientific literature classifies as a potential agroterrorism weapon,” according to the attorney’s office. “This noxious fungus causes ‘head blight,’ a disease of wheat, barley, maize, and rice, and is responsible for billions of dollars in economic losses worldwide each year.”

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Evidence in the case suggests Jain pledges an allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party, and her research was funded by a Chinese foundation backed by the Chinese government.

Another FBI counterintelligence investigation resulted in charges against five UM graduates from China in October for spying on Camp Grayling National Guard Base during a military training with Taiwanese soldiers in 2023.

Authorities allege the group was found with cameras near military vehicles, tents and classified communications equipment as soldiers conducted Northern Strike, one of the largest training exercises in the U.S.

The Chinese nationals charged in that case left the country following graduation in May 2024, but have outstanding arrest warrants in the U.S.

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Also in October, Chinese UM student Haoxiang Gao, 20, cast an illegal ballot that was counted in the 2024 election. Gao surrendered a Chinese passport to face state charges, but used a second passport to board a plane to Shanghai in January, according to the federal criminal complaint cited by The Detroit News.

The cases involving UM Chinese students have fueled calls for Michigan universities to end cooperative agreements with Chinese universities, and UM, Eastern Michigan University, and Oakland University have done so.

President Donald Trump’s administration is also working to “aggressively revoke visas” for Chinese students with connections to the Chinese Communist Party “or studying in critical fields,” while Republicans in Lansing move legislation to limit public contracts with countries of concern, ban foreign ownership of lands near sensitive sites, and target other ways the CCP is working to infiltrate critical systems in the state.

“This isn’t random – it’s a pattern,” the House Select Committee on the CCP, chaired by Michigan Congressman John Moolenaar, posted to X. “The CCP is exploiting our open system. We need action.”

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Javed Ali, a former counterterrorism official and associate professor at the University of Michigan, agreed in an email to MLive there “seems a pattern emerging” with Chinese nationals in Michigan.

“It’s the FBI that has the best insight into what this activity looks like from what they know,” he told the news site. “But even what they know may not be everything.”