JUAREZ, Mexico (Border Report) – The day ends at 10 a.m. for all practical purposes at Hope Center migrant shelter in Juarez.
That’s when men and women from all over the Western Hemisphere put their phones down and give up on the American dream for another day. U.S. Customs and Border Protection rarely sends asylum appointment notices after noon Eastern Time, the migrants say.
Leomar Nieto was among the lucky ones. He got a notice on the CBP One app to take his paperwork to the Paso del Norte port of entry in El Paso on Jan. 25. The baker from Venezuela is hopeful he will pass a credible fear interview, be released on humanitarian parole and travel to join relatives in Dallas.
Nieto doesn’t want to think about the possibility that Donald Trump will no longer honor asylum appointments at ports of entry when he takes office on Monday.
Migrant advocates say he should.
“We believe the Trump administration is going to sunset CBP One. Many of the people who were waiting are going to be stranded,” said Jesus de la Torre, assistant director for global migration at El Paso’s Hope Border Institute. “They will find very limited access to asylum, if any, at the U.S. Mexico border. And that is very concerning because they will be in dangerous situations in Mexico.”
The Biden administration in January 2023 began requiring appointments at ports of entry for asylum claims. Those who present themselves without appointment or cross between ports of entry are subject to removal and penalties. Last month, almost as many migrants came into the U.S. through CBP One appointments as were apprehended between ports of entry.
Trump made promises of mass deportations and preventing people who are not politically persecuted from exploiting the asylum system. But his “border czar” pick Tom Homan has not specifically said if or when CBP One appointments will end.
“I would like to say we can expect a (long) process but, unfortunately, it’s likely to be gone from one day to another. That is our fear: That there’s no longer going to be a process for people who are enrolled in the app or trying to get an appointment,” De la Torre said.
Juan Figueroa, another guest at Centro Hope, said the U.S. government must honor its international treaty obligations no matter who is in the White House.
The political activist from Venezuela is among those at the Juarez shelter waiting for an asylum appointment. He said he cannot answer for those who have made a frivolous claim to get into the U.S., but he swears many are in legitimate need of protection neither their countries nor Mexico can provide.
Figueroa was a campaign worker for Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Maria Corina Machado. The Venezuelan regime banned Machado from running, allegedly stole the July 2024 election from substitute candidate Edmundo Gonzalez and jailed many of their supporters.
Figueroa said several colleagues were abducted by pro-government forces and subjected to torture. Their family members warned he was in danger: They are beating them. They are dousing them with cold water and giving them electrical discharges. Run.
“I crossed seven countries. I crossed the Darien Gap. I stepped over corpses,” Figueroa told Border Report on Friday. “I came to Mexico thinking the worst was behind, but this is where bad things started to happen.”
Figueroa said he and two traveling companions were abducted and held for ransom by Mexican cartel members.
“They covered our eyes. They took us somewhere and tortured us. They beat us, they put a gun to my head. ‘We are going to kill you!’ And you think you are going to die. All I could due is ask God to look after my wife, look after my daughter, after my mom.
Figueroa didn’t say if he came through with the ransom money, but he was eventually released and arrived in Juarez.
“It is something that can make any grown man cry,” he said. “Many others I have met have gone through this. Mexico, in my opinion, is controlled by the cartels.”
Advocates say stories like that of Figueroa illustrate the need for the United States to help those who are politically persecuted in their countries, and how Mexico cannot safeguard them.
Nieto, Figueroa and Hope Center shelter director the Rev. Yiyo Herrera urge Trump to not turn his back on all migrants without weighing the merits of their stories.
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