SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Since May of last year, more than 150,000 asylum-seekers with CBP One appointments have entered the U.S. from Baja California, most of them via Tijuana, according to David Pérez Tejada, head of Mexico’s National Institute of Migration in Baja.
He says 475 asylum-seekers with appointments are crossing the border daily between Tijuana and San Diego.
But Pérez Tejada stated that 100,000 migrants are also waiting now for appointments at shelters throughout Tijuana.
“This is information we have from the shelters, many times it’s not precise,” he said. “We’re guessing it’s mostly displaced Mexicans who are waiting for appointments, could also be people from Baja California who could be staying with family, friends or in the shelters.”
The CBP One app should be upgraded to help all those migrants waiting their turn at shelters, Pérez Tejada said.
“What we need are more CBP One appointments, we need the app to function better — what’s needed is more bandwidth to accommodate more people and a way to weed out all the false or duplicate profiles that clog the system.”
Pérez Tejada said despite what people might think, getting an appointment doesn’t guarantee a stay in the U.S.
“A big percentage of getting rejected because they don’t meet the ‘credible threat’ threshold required by Customs and Border Protection and they are getting returned to Mexico or their country of origin,” he said.
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