They survived re-education camps in China’s western Xinjiang region. They were released from detention centers and psychiatric hospitals. They watched their loved ones disappear one by one and feared when it would be their turn.

他们在中国西部新疆地区的再教育营中幸存下来。他们从拘禁中心和精神病院获释。他们眼睁睁地看着亲人一个接一个地消失，担心什么时候会轮到自己。

Then they managed to get out of China and reached the soil of the United States, many by trekking through the brutal jungle in Panama known as the Darién Gap on their way to the U.S. southern border.

他们后来设法离开中国，来到美国。许多人曾徒步穿越巴拿马名为“达连峡谷”的险恶丛林前往美国南部边境。

They are Hui Muslims, a state-recognized ethnic minority group in China, where the government is determined to crack down on Islam. As President-elect Donald J. Trump promises to build detention camps and enlist the military to carry out mass deportations, the future of this group of immigrants is precarious. Deportation could mean years in jail or labor camps.

他们是回族穆斯林，虽然中国政府承认这个少数民族，但决心打击伊斯兰教。由于候任总统特朗普承诺设立拘禁营，动用军队将移民大规模驱逐出境，这些人面临着不确定的未来。被驱逐出境可能意味着多年的监禁或劳改营。

“My mother told me to stay here,” said Yan, a single mother who came to the United States in July with her 10-year-old son, Masoud, through the Darién Gap. “‘If you come back,’” she quoted her own mother as saying, “‘there’ll be no good outcome for you. Who knows — they might even sentence you to life imprisonment.’”

“我妈告诉我要留在这里，”单亲妈妈燕（音）说，她去年7月带着10岁的儿子马苏德（音）穿越达连峡谷来到美国。“‘如果你回来，’”她引用母亲的话说，“‘你不会有好结果。谁知道呢——他们甚至可能判你无期徒刑。’”

In China, Yan was detained by the police for 15 days, then sent to a psychiatric hospital for more than 20 days because her phone showed that she had made small donations to two online Quran prayer groups. The police said she supported religious terrorists and called her a “radical religious fanatic.” She considers herself not very religious and doesn’t even wear a head scarf.

在中国，燕曾经被警方拘留了15天，后来被送进精神病院20多天，因为她的手机显示她曾给两个在线古兰经祈祷群提供小额捐款。警方称她支持宗教恐怖分子，并将她称为“激进的宗教狂热分子”。她认为自己不算虔诚，甚至不戴头巾。

A growing number of Chinese are migrating to escape bleak economic prospects and political oppression. Many have joined Venezuelans, Ecuadoreans and Haitians trying to reach the United States through the Darién Gap. More than 38,000 Chinese migrants were temporarily detained on the southern border of the United States in the 2024 fiscal year, up from 24,000 the previous year, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It’s not clear how many of them are Muslims.

越来越多的中国人为逃避黯淡的经济前景和政治压迫选择移民。许多人加入到委内瑞拉人、厄瓜多尔人和海地人的行列，试图通过达连峡谷抵达美国。据美国海关和边境保护局统计，2024财年，逾3.8万名中国移民从美国南部边境入境后被临时拘禁，高于上个财年的2.4万人。目前尚不清楚其中有多少是穆斯林。

叶成祥在庇护所做饭。庇护所里的人每个周五聚在一起聊天、祈祷，讨论生活、信仰和时事。

Many Hui Muslims are making the crossing with their families.

许多回族穆斯林与家人一起来到了美国。

On a recent Friday afternoon, Yan and Masoud were among the 15 adults and six children who had gathered at a three-story house in Flushing, Queens, in New York City. Most of them had stayed there, a shelter for Muslim immigrants from China, just after arriving in the United States. They get together on Fridays with newcomers to chat, pray and discuss their lives, faith and current affairs. Then they cook a big meal with the flavors of northwestern China’s cuisine: beef noodles, spicy chicken and steamed buns.

最近一个周五的下午，15名成年人和六名儿童聚在纽约市皇后区法拉盛一栋三层楼的房子里，其中就有燕和马苏德。这是一处为来自中国的穆斯林移民提供庇护的场所，他们中的大多数人刚来美国时都曾住在这里。他们每个周五会在这里与新来者相聚，一起聊天、祈祷，讨论生活、信仰和时事。然后他们做一顿中国西北风味的大餐：牛肉面、大盘鸡和馒头。

The shelter offers the immigrants free boarding for the first two weeks before they can find places to settle down. Known as Home of Muslim, it also serves as a community center where they can seek solace and support one another.

在移民找到地方安顿下来之前，这个庇护所为他们提供两周的免费住宿。这里被称为“穆斯林之家”，同时也是一个社区中心，人们能在这里寻求慰藉，互相帮助。

They exchange personal stories, often full of trauma, sorrow and anger, said Ma Ju, the founder and a financial backer of the shelter. Once, he walked into the living room, he said, and saw a group of women in one another’s arms, weeping.

庇护所的创始人和资金支持者马聚说，人们在这里交流他们的经历，这些故事往往充满了创伤、悲伤和愤怒。他说，有一次，他走进客厅，看到一群女子抱在一起哭泣。

Mr. Ma, a businessman and a critic of the government’s policies to make Islam in China more Chinese, started the shelter in February 2023 as more Chinese came from the southern border. Over 350 people have stayed at the refuge. Most of them are Hui Muslims, though some are Uyghurs, Tibetans or Han Chinese.

马聚是一名商人，他批评中国政府对中国的伊斯兰教实施汉化的政策。随着越来越多中国人抵达美国南部边境，马聚于2023年2月成立了这家庇护所。已有逾350人在这里住过。他们中的大多数是回族穆斯林，也有一些是维吾尔人、藏人或汉人。

“They are all traumatized,” Mr. Ma said. “But sometimes, they didn’t even know what they experienced was oppression and discrimination.”

“他们都受过创伤，”马聚说。“但有的时候，他们甚至不知道自己所经历的是压迫和歧视。”

名为“穆斯林之家”的庇护所也是一个社区中心。庇护所为移民提供两周的免费住宿。

Of the roughly 25 million Muslims in China, 11 million are Hui, who have a big presence in the northwest but also live in enclaves around the nation. The Hui are better integrated into Chinese society than Uyghurs, the biggest Muslim group, who live primarily in Xinjiang. Unlike Uyghurs, who are ethnically Turkic, the Hui look similar to the country’s dominant ethnic group, the Han. The Hui haven’t faced the same degree of persecution as the Uyghurs, but the crackdown on Islam has shaken the group.

中国有大约2500万穆斯林，其中有1100万是回族，他们主要居住在西北地区，但全国各地都有回人聚居的社区。与主要生活在新疆的最大穆斯林群体维吾尔人相比，回人更好地融入了中国社会。维吾尔人在种族方面属于突厥人，而回族则与中国的主要民族汉族在相貌方面更为相似。回人面临的迫害程度不如维吾尔人，但中国政府打击伊斯兰教的做法已让他们为之惊恐。

The Chinese Communist Party fears ideological competition from any religion. Across the country, the government has demolished minarets and domes of mosques, banned the public use of Arabic script, forbidden children to attend Quran schools and sent the most religious Muslims to re-education camps.

中国共产党害怕来自任何宗教的意识形态竞争。在全国各地，政府拆除了清真寺的宣礼塔和圆顶，禁止在公共场合使用阿拉伯文字，禁止儿童上《古兰经》学校，并将最虔诚的穆斯林送进了再教育营。

That Friday afternoon at the shelter, Yong, a Hui Muslim from Xinjiang, was one of the cooks. For years, he operated a successful halal restaurant in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital city. Nearly 90 percent of his customers were Uyghurs, he said. When the government expanded re-education camps in 2017, his customers started to dwindle in number. A year later, nearly 80 percent of them had disappeared, he said.

那个周五下午，在庇护所做饭的厨师之一是来自新疆的回族穆斯林勇（音）。多年来，他曾在新疆首府乌鲁木齐经营一家成功的清真餐厅。他说，顾客中曾有近90%是维吾尔族。中国政府2017年扩大了再教育营后，他的顾客人数开始减少。他说，一年后，近80%的顾客都消失了。

Then Yong’s three uncles and his brother-in-law, all Hui Muslims, were sent to re-education centers for going to mosques “too often” or for having studied at religious schools when they were young. His mother was taken to the local police station for questioning after she was spotted wearing a scarf at home. She was released after making a written promise that she would not wear a scarf again.

后来，勇的三个叔叔和姐夫（他们都是回族穆斯林）也被送进了再教育中心，因为他们“太频繁”地前往清真寺，或年轻时曾在宗教学校学习过。他母亲被发现在家中戴头巾后曾被当地警察带到派出所询问。她以书面形式承诺不再戴头巾后才被释放。

“At that time, my wife and I were living in constant fear,” Yong said, “feeling like even the slightest misstep could get us into serious trouble.” He and his wife arrived in America in May 2023, having transited the Darién Gap. He now drives an ambulance in Queens, and his wife works at a halal restaurant in New York City.

“那个时候，我和妻子一直生活在恐惧中，”勇说，“觉得稍有不慎就可能给我们带来严重的麻烦。”他和妻子于2023年5月穿越达连峡谷来到美国。他现在在皇后区开救护车，他的妻子在纽约市的一家清真餐馆工作。

Most people I interviewed for this column asked that I use only their given names for fear that their family members in China could face harassment or worse punishment from the authorities.

我为本专栏采访的大多数人要求我只用他们的名，因为担心在中国的家人可能会受到当局的骚扰或更严重的惩罚。

Another cook at the shelter was Ye Chengxiang, a Hui Muslim from northwestern Qinghai Province. In 2017, the authorities destroyed the minaret on the mosque of his hometown. Then in 2022, Mr. Ye, also a restaurant owner, was forced to take down its halal sign amid a campaign to ban Arabic script.

庇护所的另一名厨师是叶成祥（音），他是来自青海省的回族穆斯林。2017年，当局拆掉了他家乡清真寺的宣礼塔。后来在2022年，叶成祥在一场禁用阿拉伯文的运动中被迫取下了他所经营的餐馆的清真标志。

Mr. Ye, 43, grew up listening to horror stories about his older family members’ experiences. He was determined to leave the country. It took him a decade to get Chinese passports for his family of four. On Dec. 11, 2023, he arrived in San Diego with his wife and two teenage daughters by way of the Darién Gap.

叶成祥现年43岁，从小就听说过长辈们讲述的恐怖经历。他决心离开中国。他花了十年时间才给一家四口人办下了中国护照。2023年12月11日，他和妻子带着两个十几岁的女儿穿越达连峡谷来到圣迭哥。

“There were moments on the road when it felt like I was going to die, completely unable to keep going,” he said. “But after I got to this land of freedom, the hardship was nothing. Totally worth it.”

“一路上有过几次觉得自己快要死了的时候，完全无法继续前行，”他说。“但当我来到这片自由的土地，那些艰辛都不算什么。完全是值得的。”

In November, his wife, Sophie, gave birth to their third child. He recently opened a halal restaurant in Rego Park, Queens, with other Muslim immigrants. Another group who stayed at the shelter opened a halal noodle restaurant in Manhattan.

去年11月，他的妻子索菲生下了他们的第三个孩子。他最近和别的穆斯林移民一起在皇后区的雷哥公园开了一家清真饭馆。曾在庇护所居住的另一群人在曼哈顿开了一家清真面馆。

来自中国的穆斯林移民面临的一个困难是找到不提供猪肉菜的餐馆，穆斯林不吃猪肉。几名曾在庇护所住过的人现在靠开餐馆谋生。

But Mr. Ma, the founder of the shelter, said Muslim migrants faced obstacles in making lives in America. Pork dishes, which many Muslims don’t eat, feature heavily in most Chinese restaurants. One former resident of the shelter, with Mr. Ma’s help, found a job at a warehouse — and was called “a terrorist” by co-workers, Han Chinese immigrants, on his first day.

但庇护所的创始人马聚说，穆斯林移民在美国谋生面临重重障碍。美国大多数中餐馆的菜是用猪肉做的，而大多数穆斯林不吃猪肉。在马聚的帮助下，一名曾在庇护所居住的人在一家仓库找到了一份工作，上班的第一天，他就被汉族移民同事称为“恐怖分子”。

After Mr. Trump won the election, Mr. Ma said, his phone rang almost nonstop for a week. The callers were anxious. They spoke little English, so they had limited access to official information.

马聚说，特朗普在总统大选中获胜后，他的电话几乎不停地响了一个星期。给他打电话的人都很焦虑。他们几乎不会英语，获得官方信息的渠道有限。

Mr. Ma said he had invited a lawyer to the shelter to explain the importance of applying for political asylum. Most Chinese migrants entering the United States from the southern border are released on parole by immigration authorities. Then they can apply for asylum. Under the current protocols, the lawyer told them, once they had a pending case, they should be protected from deportation.

马聚说，他邀请一名律师来到庇护所，解释申请政治庇护的重要性。大多数从南部边境进入美国的中国移民会被移民当局假释。然后他们可以申请庇护。律师告诉他们，根据现行规定，他们一旦将申请递交上去，就应该受到免于被驱逐出境的保护。

“It would be lying if anyone says they are not scared,” said Yan, the single mother. “Everyone is on edge.” She said she would accept being deported but would make the painful decision to have someone adopt her son, who has problems learning, if it meant he could stay in the United States.

“如果有人说不害怕，那一定是在撒谎，”单亲妈妈燕说。“每个人都很紧张，”她说。她能接受自己被驱逐，但如果能让她有学习障碍的儿子留在美国，她愿意做出痛苦的决定，让别人收养他。

“My son has to stay here,” she said. “Going back would mean no chance of survival for him.”

“我儿子必须留在这里，”她说。“回国就意味着他没有生存的机会。”