SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Wednesday it is making crucial updates to the app migrants use in the asylum-seeking process as the pandemic-era border policy Title 42 is about to expire.
According to a press release, Border Patrol is expanding the number of border crossing appointments available in the CBP One app, allowing more time to complete requests and prioritizing app users who have been waiting the longest for an appointment.
The new scheduling system goes into effect Wednesday, and the press release says it will allow appointment requests to be made 23 hours each day. Before the update, appointments could only be made during a short, limited designated time. CBP's goal is to make 1,000 appointments available daily, and it may allow more if "operations and efficiencies allow."
"The appointment request process will have two steps, so requestors have ample time to make requests and confirm appointments at their convenience over the course of a day," the release says.
If a migrant is notified that they have a chance to confirm an appointment, they will have another 23 hours to lock it in. CBP believes this expanded time frame will ease the pressure and dependency migrants have on internet speed and connection.
"These changes will provide noncitizens with limited connectivity the same opportunity to schedule appointments to present themselves for inspection at Southwest Border ports of entry as those with better internet connections," the release says. "CBP continues to advance innovative technologies and improve the delivery of its critical homeland security mission, including to streamline safe and efficient processes at ports of entry."
CBP pointed out that the new changes do not alter how migrants would initially register themselves, their families, or others in the CBP One app.
Title 42 expires at 8:59 p.m. PT Thursday. The new rule the Department of Homeland Security is implementing says those who enter the U.S. illegally are presumed ineligible for asylum and allows for undocumented migrants to be removed immediately if they can't show a "reasonable fear of persecution or torture in the country of removal."
The rule says migrants and asylum seekers can only make those claims under "exceptionally compelling circumstances."
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Migrants using the CBP One app are not guaranteed permission to enter the country. Migrants must be physically located in central or northern Mexico to request and schedule appointments in the app, the release says.
Some people ABC 10News spoke to on Tuesday said the app doesn't work, while others said they applied but heard nothing back. Those people decided to make the journey to the border anyway.
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