McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Three nonprofits on Wednesday sued the federal government for more information about the CPB One app.
Al Otro Lado, the Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center, and the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in federal court in California to compel the government to release information about its policies and practices relating to the CBP One app and asylum-seekers with disabilities.
The app is what asylum-seekers have had to use since May 2023 — when Title 42 was lifted — to schedule asylum interviews with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials at U.S. ports of entry.
The Biden administration says the app enables a humane and orderly system to vet migrants seeking asylum through legal ports of entry.
A senior administration official earlier this week said that since last May, 547,000 migrants have been allowed to schedule asylum interviews via the agency’s CBP One app.
The lawsuit comes after a report by Human Rights Watch released last week criticizes the app as a modern-day form of metering to keep asylum-seekers from crossing ports of entry.
Wednesday’s lawsuit seeks information as it relates to discrimination of asylum-seekers with disabilities. It claims the government has not provided the information the groups requested.
“CBP One requires a smartphone and a high level of technological proficiency to install and use. The application is prone to frequent glitches and other technical issues,” according to the lawsuit.
Migrant advocates claim it can take seven months to get an appointment via the CBP One app. And they say it is fraught with glitches, such as not recognizing dark-skinned individuals properly.
“We have and continue to see migrants with disabilities facing unlawful discrimination and unequal access to the asylum process due to the inaccessibility of the app,” said staff lawyer Laura Murchie with the Civil Rights and Education Enforcement Center. “CBP needs to release these documents so we can advocate for and ensure compliance with the law so asylum-seekers with disabilities do not continue to be harmed by CBP’s disregard for rights that are guaranteed by federal disability law.”
“By requiring the scheduling of immigration processing appointments through the CBP One App to maintain asylum eligibility, CBP has created yet another barrier to entry. The federal government has a responsibility to ensure that its technology is accessible to people with disabilities,” lawyer Kassandra Gonzalez with the Beyond Borders Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project said.
“There should be no mystery surrounding whether CBP is compliant with federal disability law in how it processes asylum seekers with disabilities,” said Nicole Elizabeth Ramos, director of Al Otro Lado’s Border Rights Project.
“We urge the court to order CBP to release these records immediately.”
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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