US policies are failing asylum seekers
As more asylum seekers resettle throughout the United States, it is worth considering the conditions and circumstances they encounter when they arrive at the southern border. On a research trip to El Paso, Texas, last summer, I saw the consequences of existing immigration policy on both sides of the border, including how technology marginalizes migrants.
One policy implemented by the Biden administration is the requirement that migrants use an app called “CBP One” to schedule an appointment to request asylum. This app presented numerous challenges for migrants who were already struggling to manage the stress associated with fleeing violence and seeking refuge. As a clinical social worker, it was clear to me that requiring migrants to use the app violates social work’s professional values, including the importance of human relationships.
When visiting migrant shelters in El Paso, I met migrants from Venezuela who described various challenges with using the app, including error messages and limited appointment times that filled up after a matter of minutes. These technical difficulties delayed their asylum appointment, forcing them to wait in dangerous border communities and completely overlooking their dignity as human beings.
I also visited a migrant shelter in Juárez, Mexico, where the scene was markedly different. In the basement of the Roman Catholic cathedral, where hundreds of migrants a day meet for a meal, I felt a palpable tension in the room and saw looks of anxiety, desperation and exhaustion on the faces of migrants who recently arrived to the border. These migrants were unclear if or when they would be able to enter the U.S., and much of this uncertainty was due to the CBP One app. Blank stares of fear scattered the room, and a troubling combination of hopelessness and unease hung in the air.
After speaking with migrants, immigrant advocates and service providers in El Paso and Juárez, I learned the experiences on both sides of the border are manufactured, in part, by a patchwork set of U.S. immigration policies, including the requirement that migrants use the CBP One app to request asylum. Currently, there is a limit of 1,450 daily appointments to apply for asylum, which are accepted at only seven ports of entry on the entire U.S. southern border.
This constraint marginalizes migrants and forces them to wait in dangerous areas of the border, resulting in a technocratic form of the “Remain in Mexico” policy that immigrant advocates have denounced and research shows leaves migrants vulnerable to violence and exploitation. Relying on an app also overlooks the importance of human relationships and can hinder the U.S. government’s ability to employ empathy and compassion when supporting vulnerable migrants.
Rather than streamlining the asylum process, the CBP One app is masking the root causes of migration, such as violence and political instability. The app should not be the primary pathway to asylum, and the Biden administration should harness resources to process asylum claims that center on human relationships. Prioritizing human relationships also aligns with the spirit of asylum – welcoming the stranger and providing refuge for those escaping persecution and violence.
My worry is that technology will overlook the dignity and worth of those arriving to the U.S. seeking asylum, just as I saw on the faces of migrants in Juárez still waiting for an appointment, staring at their phone and hoping the screen refreshes without an error message.
Robert G. Hasson III, a licensed independent clinical social worker, is an assistant professor of social work at Providence College.