Chinese dissident Guan Heng granted asylum after Xinjiang footage

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An immigration judge on Wednesday granted asylum to Chinese national Guan Heng, concluding that he established legal eligibility and a credible fear of persecution if sent back to China after exposing alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The decision was issued at a hearing in Napanoch, New York, where Guan said he had a “well founded fear” of persecution and spoke by video link from a correctional facility.

The judge, Charles Ouslander, said the court found Guan to be a credible witness and that Guan had established his legal eligibility for asylum. Ouslander also pointed to evidence that the Chinese government had questioned Guan’s family and inquired about his whereabouts and past activities, including after Guan released video content.

Guan, 38, applied for asylum after arriving in the United States illegally in 2021. He has been in custody since he was swept up in an immigration enforcement operation in August as part of a mass deportation campaign associated with the Trump administration. In court, Guan was asked about his intent when he secretly filmed detention facilities in Xinjiang and released the video days before arriving in the U.S., and he told the judge that was not his goal.

Guan said, through a translator, that he filmed and released the footage because he “sympathized with the Uyghurs who were persecuted.” He told the Associated Press in a recent interview that he knew he would need to leave China to publish the footage, and he described traveling first to Hong Kong and then to Ecuador, then the Bahamas, before taking a boat to Florida in October 2021. After leaving, Guan released most of the video footage on YouTube before the boat trip.

Guan also testified that after the video was released, police in China questioned his father three times. The Chinese government has denied allegations of rights abuses in Xinjiang, saying it runs vocational training programs designed to help local residents learn employable skills while it roots out radical thoughts, and it has described coercive steps taken to silence dissenting views.

The case drew attention earlier, and MSI previously reported on the asylum seeker’s fight against deportation in a developing set of coverage. MSI previously reported that this asylum seeker who exposed alleged Xinjiang abuses was fighting deportation, including after his situation drew public concerns. In December, the Department of Homeland Security dropped an initial plan to deport Guan to Uganda after his plight raised concerns and attracted attention on Capitol Hill.

Guan’s attorney, Chen Chuangchuang, argued in his closing statement that the case is a “textbook example of why asylum should exist” and said the U.S. has both a “moral and legal responsibility” to grant Guan asylum. In making the ruling, Ouslander said Guan had shown he was right to fear retaliation and urged the government to act quickly, noting that Guan has already been detained for about five months.

Guan was not immediately released after the decision because a lawyer for the Department of Homeland Security said the department reserves the right to appeal. The government has 30 days to file an appeal, and Ouslander urged DHS to make its decision soon.

The outcome stands out because successful asylum rulings have become rarer under the Trump administration’s return to office. The asylum approval rate dropped to 10% in 2025, down from 28% between 2010 and 2024, according to federal data compiled by Mobile Pathways, a California-based nonprofit that helps immigrants navigate the U.S. legal system.