Migrants frustrated with CBP’s asylum appointment app
- Migrants use the CBP One app to make asylum interview appointments
- App is supposed to help streamline the process
- Migrants say the app crashes and appointments are hard to come by
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(NewsNation) — Every morning, hundreds of migrants living on the streets of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, log in to the United States Customs and Border Protection’s One app in hopes of landing an appointment for an asylum interview.
“It’s the same wait, 24 hours, just for one minute,” a Venezuelan woman and migrant told NewsNation. “We wait every day until 9 a.m. and (the) next day ’til 9 a.m. Everyone waits until 9 a.m. to try to connect but the page doesn’t load.”
That’s when appointment slots open for migrants to register. Thousands of people use the app, and it’s caused more frustration and confusion for migrants who say they’ve been trying without success for months to get an appointment.
It’s the only legal way for migrants seeking asylum to enter the country.
“Once it’s 9 a.m., the time to register, the app has already crashed,” a Venezuelan migrant named Anderson said. “The whole world is on that app. Supposedly the app was just for Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans. Now the app is for the whole world. It just keeps crashing.”
Just a few days ago, more than 1,000 migrants crossed into El Paso from Ciudad Juarez without authorization after growing impatient with the CBP One app. They were sent back under Title 42, according to Anthony Good, Border Patrol chief of the El Paso Sector.
Migrants still living on the streets of Ciudad Juarez told NewsNation they want to enter the U.S. through the CBP One app. They didn’t want to cross with the large group because they feared being sent back.
One man from Venezuela told NewsNation his wife got an appointment and is now in the U.S., while he is left with his two daughters on the streets of Juarez.
“It separates families,” he said. “It doesn’t work. It’s crazy — just one minute for thousands of people… I still don’t have (an appointment). I have four months here in Mexico. My wife is on the other side. She crossed last week with the app and I’m here with our daughters. This is where we sleep.”
