Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) has called for an official investigation into an incident involving a Chinese-speaking U.S. customs officer who tried to use Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda to stop Shen Yun dancers from entering the United States.
“I demand an immediate investigation into this incident.” Mr. Perry said, “If the allegations are founded, termination of said agent must occur promptly.”
The March 11 incident involved a customs officer at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, who spoke Chinese with a mainland accent.
“They’re Falun Gong. They’re political. They’re illegal,” the customs officer told his nearby co-workers in English, as he screened Teresa Du, a tour manager with Shen Yun Performing Arts, which showcases “China Before Communism” in performances around the world.
Ms. Du is a U.S.-born citizen and all artists are either U.S. citizens or hold valid visas.
“This is an American citizen, espousing their First Amendment rights, coming back home to America, and essentially being intimidated by the federal government. That’s a whole different level,” Mr. Perry told NTD.
The officer’s behavior concerned Mr. Perry so much that he wrote a letter to CBP on March 15, highlighting the “allegations of discrimination by a customs officer against U.S. citizens based on constitutionally protected religious beliefs” that he noted was “due to the agent’s apparent sympathies with the Chinese Communist Party.”
“If substantiated, this is a breathtaking and reprehensible violation of their constitutional rights,” he wrote. The phrase “they are illegal,” he said, raises “further severe concerns.”
“Is this officer working to assert Chinese policy through his official U.S. government position?” Mr. Perry stated.
Founded in New York in 2006 by Chinese artists who fled communist persecution, Shen Yun has been targeted by the CCP for nearly two decades.
Ms. Du, as well as many Shen Yun performers, practice Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that focuses on self-improvement through meditation and moral principles.
Mr. Perry has been alarmed about CCP infiltration of America, including the reports of several Chinese police stations operating on U.S. soil.
“You’ve got to wonder, who’s watching the watchmen?” he said, referring to the customs officer. “How was this person vetted? How did they get to this position?”
He said immediate investigation is critical not in the least for protection of all U.S. citizens’ First Amendment rights.
“Perhaps as urgent is the need to ascertain and prevent officers with foreign sympathies from gaining and using an official position to assert their personal beliefs on others,” he said, adding that he expects findings of the investigation to be shared with Congress.
Epoch Times reporter Eva Fu contributed to this report.
