Migrants used the CBP One app more than 64 million times to enter the U.S.

One of the ways to access the United States is through CBP One appointments made by migrants from Mexico, using a smartphone. According to data provided by the federal government that obtained CBS News, migrants made more than 64.3 million requests to enter the United States.

Since CBP One began operating, thousands of people have used the application millions of times to obtain the long-awaited appointment and have immigration agents process them at the border. A total of 450.000 migrants were approved and entered the northern nation under this process.

The documents reflect that the period covered is from January 2023, when the Biden administration allowed applications, until February 8 of this year. They also show that more than 5 million applications were made per month.

This does not mean that the number of applications corresponds to the number of people, but that the same person can apply repeatedly, but the number is still extremely high. It also shows the anxiety that applicants show when applying several times in order to enter the United States.

Theresa Cardinal Brown, a former U.S. immigration official during the Bush and Obama administrations, said many people are interested in coming to the country. “It’s an astonishing number. There are so many people who would love to immigrate to the United States. They essentially see CBP One as a kind of self-petition mechanism that we’ve never had before,” Cardinal said.

Since the beginning of last year, the current US government has been trying to ensure that migrants enter the country through safe routes and thus stop illegal border crossings. Those who enter the country through a CBP appointment have the possibility of applying for work permits after their release, unlike those who enter illegally. In addition, they do not have to comply with the stricter asylum conditions.

Officers at ports of entry along the Mexican border allowed 448.701 migrants into the country with CBP One appointments, who were also notified to appear in court to plead their cases. These people are screened for national and public safety when they appear for their appointments, but are not screened for asylum. Once they are released, they are allowed to work and when they are notified to appear in court, they can apply for asylum, which can take months, even years.

The app is available in Spanish, English, Creole, Haitian, Portuguese and Russian, and is open to migrants from any nation located in central or northern Mexico. It is known that there is a geofencing function that blocks the use of the app outside of these areas.

Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico, Russia, El Salvador, Haiti, Chile, Honduras, Guatemala and Colombia are the countries of origin of the migrants who are authorized to enter the United States. Every day, the government distributes 1.450 appointments, most of them at random since the remaining 30% are distributed to migrants who have been waiting longer. If someone is not selected, they must reapply for an appointment using the application.

A senior CBP official revealed that the number of appointments is "high" but "not unreasonably high" since multiple requests are made each day by the same person until they are selected. "If someone applies for five weeks in a row before they get an appointment, that person appears 35 times in that number," the senior official told CBS News.

The same person said that although the number of CBP One locations was increased on several occasions last year, there are no plans to do so again, since the nation processes more than 1.500 migrants daily at its ports of access.

The consequences of the CBP process are notable since illegal entries of Cubans and Haitians, who are the ones who mostly use the application, remain low compared to 2021 and 2022. On the other hand, other nationals from different countries in Central America and Venezuela continue to cross the border irregularly.

According to the official, this is due to the large communities of Cubans and Haitians who reside in the country and provide information to their compatriots who plan to enter the US about the consequences of doing so without using CBP One.

Cardinal Brown, a former U.S. immigration official who now serves as a senior adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center, said CBP One is “providing some order” at the southern border with Mexico. He also said migrants are no longer waiting for appointments and crossing the border illegally.

He also commented that the number of citations is “clearly a drop in the ocean of this massive number of migrants moving in this hemisphere and trying to get to the United States.”