The Biden administration has expanded its migrant program to accept up to 522,000 asylum seekers into the US per year.
In January the president announced he would let up to 360,000 asylum seekers into the country annually, provided they apply through the CBP One phone app.
That program has since been expanded from 1,000 appointments per day to 1,450, meaning up to another 162,000 migrants could be ushered into the US.
“Customs and Border Protection is expanding the number of available appointments at ports of entry for the second time in less than two months, through scheduling enhancements and operational efficiencies,” acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement.
As people pour across the border and head for big cities they are putting unprecedented strain on services, with New York City struggling to accommodate 50,000 migrants who have arrived, while Chicago has struggled to find enough shelter space for the 10,000 who have arrived there.
To qualify for entry into the US, potential asylum seekers have to provide paperwork, have a financial sponsor and meet requirements at an interview with a border patrol officer. Migrants have to apply through the app and schedule an appointment before they arrive at a US checkpoint.
Once admitted they can apply for a work permit while they wait for an asylum hearing in court, which is often scheduled years in the future.
Initial plans for migrants to only be admitted by flying into the country appear to have been dropped.
The Department of Homeland Security says it has seen a 70% drop in “unlawful entries” across the border since the end of Title 42 in May. Since that time it has been processing migrants under an earlier measure, Title 8, and says it has sent 38,400 noncitizens back to their home countries.
DHS has yet to release its figures for June showing the number of encounters between border patrol officers and migrants. The figures for May were still high with over 200,000 attempts by people to cross the border.
Critics of the CBP One system say it is abusing the asylum system.
Republican Senator Josh Hawley branded the app a “concierge service” for migrants, and 18 states are challenging the process, calling it a “smoke screen.”
The lawsuit states the app will only cause more illegal immigrants to seek shelter in the US by guaranteeing them a quicker path though, according to Fox News.
The State of Texas also sued over the CBP One app separately, claiming the government is “illegally pre-approving” foreign aliens to enter the country and “go where they please.”
Tennessee Republican, Mark Green, accused Biden of using the app to “mask the numbers.”
“A person comes to the borders, they’re telling them to voluntarily return to Mexico, fill out the app, and then [when they come back] they are giving them parole into the US, [which] is against the law,” Green told Fox News in late June.
“The numbers aren’t going down,” he said. “Our open border is a national security crisis.”
“The border’s still open, the cartels are still human trafficking – they’re just filling out the app for the people they’re trafficking. It’s not been an improvement,” he added.
Despite the administration insisting the border is closed and tighter restrictions are in place, asylum seekers can still request in-person interviews at the border, especially those with an acute medical condition or those who claim they are under threat of being kidnapped or death, according to Fox 4 News.
Migrants have also already found a loophole in the system, which allows them to enter the US without an appointment. The fine print states that if “language barriers, illiteracy or technical issues” stop a person from completing the process online, they can show up at an entry point and request an interview.
One man, Cesar Segura, put it to the test at a port of entry in San Diego.
“I tried many times to set up an interview on the app but it never worked,” Segura told the Border Report, speaking in Spanish, adding heading to the border in person “was our trump card to play.”
After being deemed to qualify at his interview, Segura was waved into the US and went to Miami where he is now pursuing asylum.
