CBP One app needs revamping to screen for unqualified asylum-seekers, Mexican official says
SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — An immigration official in Tijuana believes the CBP One app needs to be restructured to help weed out unqualified asylum-seekers.
The online app provides appointments to migrants so they can legally approach a port of entry for an initial screening with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services personnel.
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If they meet a certain threshold, they are given access north of the border and are provided with a court date in the United States to legally begin their asylum cases in the future.
But Enrique Lucero, director of Tijuana’s Migrant Affairs Office, says U.S. Customs and Border Protection has to improve the online application process to avoid giving out appointments to migrants who ultimately don’t have a compelling argument for asylum.
“They made more appointments available, but perhaps they are giving some of those to people who won’t qualify for asylum while denying this opportunity to other more deserving candidates,” said Lucero. “This will also reduce the number of many migrants who seek out smugglers to get them across the border illegally.”
Lucero says migrants from 120 different countries have either used the CBP One app to secure an appointment at a port of entry or have crossed the border unlawfully in the San Diego-Tijuana area this year.
“We started with 200 appointments daily when the program began, now we have 400 per day, but the system has become mired,” he said. “The number of appointments has to increase, so more asylum-seekers can use the app instead of using smugglers to get into the U.S.,” said Lucero.
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