SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Using the CBP One app, more than 400,000 asylum-seekers so far have secured an appointment to enter the U.S. to begin their asylum cases, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
During a conference call with reporters from both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, DHS spokesman Luis Miranda discussed the merits of the CBP One app, which started being used to set up appointments in January.
He stated that on average, 1,450 migrants are getting appointments per day, although they likely waited eight weeks to secure it.
“Most of the appointments are handed out at random,” said Miranda. “It really doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in the system, we have a fair process.”
Miranda went on to say the system is set up to detect when various accounts have been created by the same user and will subsequently be canceled and deleted from their database.
“There are rumors about tricks or ways to manipulate the process, and that’s false. We’ve heard the rumors about needing different accounts, but one person should not have more than one in our registry,” he said.
Miranda wanted to remind migrants who obtain an appointment that they will have to undergo an interview to determine if they qualify for humanitarian parole and a work permit.
“Asylum is not meant for everyone,” he said. “General violence is not considered one of the requirements, nor is it the need to simply get work. It’s for people who are being persecuted.”
CBP urges noncitizens to request an appointment before they present themselves at a land port of entry, adding that the number who can be processed will vary by port based on available resources and existing infrastructure.
The ports of entry where applicant can present themselves are in Nogales, Arizona; Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Hidalgo, Laredo, and El Paso in Texas; and Calexico and San Ysidro, California.
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