Fox News host Maria Bartiromo claimed over the weekend that China is secretly "sending" doctors and scientists and engineers across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Bartiromo made the claim during an interview with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) that aired on Sunday.

"It seems like the cartels are really winning and making big money here," she explained. "Someone told me this week that they're making $400 million monthly. I mean, the numbers, because they're charging $4,000 a head, they're taking 2,000 people a day into America. And depending on where you come from, the numbers are even higher."

"One guard told me that they apprehended a group from China," Bartiromo revealed. "And the group from China told them that they paid $50,000 a head. And by the way, these were scientists and doctors and engineers from China."

The Fox News host added: "You have to ask, why the CCP is sending these people through the border, obviously they don't want to be noticed. What are they doing when they get here?"

"It could be espionage," Abbott volunteered. "They're forgetting about the people from China, from Iran, from terrorist-based nations. It could be espionage."

Breitbart, a conservative news outlet, recently reported that less than 1 percent of border apprehensions are thought to be Chinese nationals.