U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Saturday nabbed 118 Chinese nationals after they illegally crossed into the San Diego sector Saturday. 

CBP sources tell Fox News that the San Diego sector in Southern California has encountered more than 30,000 Chinese illegal immigrants at the border since October 1. 

Migrants in line in Jacumba, California. Border authorities are contending with an influx of Chinese migrants in a key border sector. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

The number of Chinese nationals encountered at the border since Oct. 1 is a 8,600% increase over all fiscal year 2021, when only 342 Chinese nationals were nabbed across the entire southern border. 

Since Oct. 1, CBP in the San Diego sector alone has encountered 8,900 illegal immigrants from India, 7,800 from Turkey, 2,900 from Uzbekistan, 4,400 from Mauritania, 3,000 from Vietnam, and 5,600 from Guinea. 

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Some migrants previously told Fox News that they are seeking a better life in the United States.

"My English is not very good, and I don't know anyone in the United States," one migrant said in March. "Once I get to the United States, I know I have to start all over again. But I want to live a good life in the future, and I want my children to be educated well. I strive to take root in the United States as soon as possible."

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But some lawmakers have raised concerns about potential espionage by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the movement of fentanyl into the U.S. – which is often created in Mexico using Chinese precursors and then smuggled across the land border. 

Fox News Digital’s Adam Shaw contributed to this report.