BORDER RULE TO LIMIT ACCESS TO LAWYERS
LOCKED OUT: Many migrants get error after error trying to log into updated CBP One app
As officials, media and the public watched both sides of the U.S.Mexico border to see what the day’s border policy changes would bring, a Venezuelan asylum seeker began Thursday at the Espacio Migrante shelter in Tijuana as he has most every day since he arrived about a month ago.
Ronald, 21, woke up early, brushed his teeth and made sure his phones were ready for the intense minutes around 8 a.m. of tapping and refreshing that had become the norm for migrants across the city. That’s because of a smartphone app called CBP One that launched in January as a way to schedule appointments to request asylum at ports of entry.
But as the moment to begin the daily ritual of toggling screens approached, Ronald’s phones kicked him out of the application. Loops of error messages blocked him from getting back in. Others around him began to experience the same behavior. He and other asylum seekers interviewed are not being fully identified because of their vulnerable situations.
The app, which has been roundly criticized by human rights groups, went through a major update Thursday in conjunction with the end of Title 42 — a border policy that for the past three years has blocked asylum seekers from approaching ports of entry to request protection and empowered border officials to skip asylum screenings and expel those who cross without permission. The public health orders related to the pandemic that put the policy in place expired Thursday night.
“We knew something would change today. We thought it would make things better, but it’s worse,” Ronald said in Spanish. “We can’t even get in. It’s so frustrating.”
Customs and Border Protection did not respond to requests for comment.
The app is a centerpiece of the Biden administration’s new border policy that is rolling out this week. But if Thursday is a hint of what is to come, following the policies will continue to challenge people trying to flee for their lives.
day, and officials were expecting a spike in migrants trying to crossing the border. Complicating matters, just hours before Title 42’s expiration, a federal judge in Florida blocked the Biden administration from quickly releasing migrants from Border Patrol custody without court notices.
Border agents apprehended more than 10,000 migrants in a single day on Tuesday, according to internal data obtained by the Times. By Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection had more than 28,000 migrants in custody, significantly more than its facilities are rated to hold, the data showed.
“In support of the Department’s goal to more quickly provide relief to those who are eligible while more quickly removing those who are not, effective immediately the minimum time between the noncitizen’s acknowledgment of receipt of the Form M-444, Information about Credible Fear Interview, and the credible fear interview will be 24 hours,” a lead U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services official on asylum wrote in the email announcing the change.
The directive also made clear that migrants who request to reschedule their initial interviews will need to “demonstrate extraordinary circumstances” to do so as to not “unreasonably delay the overall process.”
USCIS will “continually assess” whether a return to the 48-hour wait period is appropriate, according to the email.
A USCIS spokesperson said in a statement that the agency “is committed to ensuring that noncitizens in expedited removal are given time to consult with the person of their choosing after being referred to USCIS for a credible-fear interview. In order to expeditiously process noncitizens in expedited removal, USCIS will ensure that noncitizens will have at least 24 hours for consultation.”
Biden administration officials believe that deterrence, through quick deportations and a policy that limits asylum for those who cross without authorization, will allow them to manage increases in migration at the border.
In credible-fear interviews, migrants who convince an asylum officer that there is a significant possibility that they could establish they have a wellfounded fear of persecution in their home country usually get to stay in the U.S. and pursue their asylum cases in immigration court.
Migrants who can’t clear that bar are usually deported.
“The decision to cut the time makes it clear that the Biden administration is doing everything possible to fast track people for deportation as opposed to giving them the opportunity to truly access due process and a fair chance to have their asylum claim adjudicated,” said Taylor Levy, an immigration attorney specializing in border cases.
The so-called consultation period for asylum seekers is crucial, advocates have previously said.
Immigration lawyers argued that Trump’s version of the policy, which allowed migrants a business day, rather than 48 hours, limited migrants’ ability to find attorneys, gather evidence and prepare for the interview.
The Trump policy was one of the first changes under the leadership of then-USCIS head Ken Cuccinelli, who followed the Trump administration’s efforts to limit asylum at the border and deport more migrants. Ur Jaddou, Biden’s director of the agency, called Trump’s effort “another way to limit the process” and said it would lead to “more deportations.”
A federal court blocked the policy after advocates challenged the legality of Cuccinelli’s appointment.
“For asylum seekers, credible-fear interviews are often matters of life and death. Cutting in half the time that people have to prepare for what might be the most important interview of their life raises the risk of errors even higher,” Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, said Thursday. “The Biden administration should stop trying to sacrifice due process and a fair shot at protection for expediency.”
The Biden administration has said it is prepared for the end of the Title 42 policy and will send troops to the border, institute a policy that limits asylum for those who cross without permission, surge asylum officers and judges to help process people and rapidly deport those who do not have a right to stay in the U.S.
The U.S. also recently solidified a deal with Mexico to allow DHS officials to turn back nationals from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua to Mexico.
While the administration has pursued deterrence-focused policies, it has also opened up more slots for asylum seekers to seek entry at ports of entry and will create processing centers to help migrants determine whether they have a legal path to the U.S.
The Biden administration will allow migrants from Honduras, Colombia, El Salvador and Guatemala to apply to enter the U.S. if they qualify for a family reunification program.
The Department of Homeland Security will continue to also allow immigrants from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and Venezuela who have verified sponsors in the U.S. to apply to enter the country legally.