Progressives push back on bid to ease border crisis

President Joe Biden has made a hash of border security thanks to lax policies encouraging immigrant crossings — both legal and illegal.

On the occasion where he gets makes a move in the right direction, however, progressives in his party push back on any attempts to bring the chaos under control.

Our own Sen. Ed Markey sent a letter Tuesday to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) urging it to discontinue the use of a smartphone app required by migrants seeking asylum at the southern border to use, according to The Hill.

The CBP One app, which was rolled out in 2021, was established to allow migrants to submit applications for asylum before they cross the U.S. border. According to the CBP website, “travelers who apply for their I-94 ahead of time will experience faster processing times to expedite entry. Travelers can also quickly access their current I-94 submission to view critical information such as, how long they can remain in the U.S., and use it for proof of visitor status once in the United States.” Sounds efficient. Markey, however, finds fault. He wrote that requiring migrants to submit sensitive information, including biometric and location data, on the app raises “serious privacy concerns,” and demanded that the DHS cease its use of it.

“This expanded use of the CBP One app raises troubling issues of inequitable access to — and impermissible limits on — asylum, and has been plagued by significant technical problems and privacy concerns. DHS should shelve the CBP One app immediately,” Markey said in his letter.

“Rather than mandating use of an app that is inaccessible to many migrants, and violates both their privacy and international law, DHS should instead implement a compassionate, lawful, and human rights centered approach for those seeking asylum in the United States,” he continued.

So unless all migrants can use the app, none should? Efficiency is not a luxury — not when our border is overwhelmed.

According to the CBP, the International Organization feature is restricted to authorized users of the app to verify the status of individuals who are currently in the Migrant Protection Protocols, aka undocumented migrants seeking to enter the U.S. who must remain in Mexico to wait for the duration of their immigration proceedings.

One would think immigration verification and streamlining would be something lawmakers could get behind.

“Technology can facilitate asylum processing, but we cannot allow it to create a tiered system that treats asylum seekers differently based on their economic status — including the ability to pay for travel — language, nationality, or race,” he said.

The Biden administration reportedly plans to adopt a new rule that would prohibit migrants from seeking asylum here if they did not initially attempt to apply for it from the country they were coming from.

This too is a move in the right direction.

Progressive leaders on Capitol Hill shouldn’t make the situation worse by attempting end runs around efforts to ease the border crisis.