Claim: There is a phone app that is assisting our government smuggle in “illegal immigrants.”
There have been claims that the current administration has created an app that individuals can download on their phone that allows them to enter the United States even though they have no legal status. The claims also state that there are no documents required and that the person just needs to ask permission to come to the United States and without a background check these people are being flown into the United States. These statements are not true and are being used to make people fear the immigrant populations in our communities. For example, rumors regarding the CBP One App led to the mass sharing of false information regarding the Haitian population in Springfield, Ohio. Our goal is to share facts to try and prevent people in our great country from turning on each other because of fear. So, what is the CBP One App?
The CBP One App was first launched on October 28, 2020, but was not used for immigration. In January of 2023, the Biden Administration announced that it would expand the use of the CBP One app. At first, it was being used for individuals who were prevented from traveling to the United States due to Title 42, which was the public health order provision regarding limiting individuals from countries due to COVID-19. The two most recent uses of the CBP One App are: 1) scheduling appointments with CBP at ports-of-entry who are seeking asylum; and 2) as a tool for individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to file for special humanitarian parole programs.
Scheduling Appointment with CBP at port-of-entry
The proper way to file for Asylum in the United States is to present yourself at a port-of-entry or to file from within the United States. There is no legal way for someone to claim Asylum by filing an application outside the United States.
If a person is seeking to enter the United States to request asylum, they must present themselves at a port-of-entry and have an interview with a CBP officer. There are 8 port-of-entries at the US southern border. The CBP Officers are trained to determine if the person presents a risk to the US. If this person passes this screening, the office can either parole the individual into the United States or place them into immigration proceedings. Either option allows the person to file for Asylum within the United States.
The CBP One App allows individuals who require an interview with a CBP Officer to schedule that interview in advance. The use of the CBP One app to schedule an interview did not create a new option for an individual to enter the United States. Instead, it changed the process of seeking the interview with a CBP officer. The intent was to give CBP Officers more control of the number of interviews they were scheduling each day.
The reality is that by implementing the use of the CBP One App to schedule interviews at the border, it opened the opportunity for the Biden Administration to limit the number of individuals who are eligible for Asylum. The Biden Administration issued an Executive Order on June 4, 2024 that temporarily suspends the right to asylum for people who arrive at the southern border but not at a port-of-entry (enter or attempt to enter without inspection) or who do not schedule an appointment through the CBP One App at a port-of-entry. This means that if a person enters the United States without scheduling/attending an interview through the CBP One App, they lose the option to seek asylum in the United States. In June of 2024, reports confirmed CBP processed 1,450 appointments per day, and had received 5 million requests on average each month.
Therefore, the statements that the app is being used to allow more foreign nationals into the United States could not be further from the truth. The app is being used for the exact opposite purpose. In conjunction with Executive Orders it is limiting the number of individuals who enter the United States without inspection and limits those eligible to seek Asylum.
Humanitarian Parole
The second use of the CBP One App is using it as a tool for individuals seeking Humanitarian Parole who are from Cuba, Hati, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (commonly referred to as “CHNV”).
CHNV is a Humanitarian Parole program that provides “a safe an orderly pathway to the United States” for individuals from those four countries. This process also limited individuals from these countries from being able to file for Asylum if they did not use this humanitarian parole method. The intent of this process was to reduce the large number of individuals who were fleeing these countries and entering the United States without being inspected, or who were flooding the borders and seeking interviews with CBP Officers. This process allowed individuals to apply for parole from their country without overwhelming officers at the border’s ports-of-entry. It has been a large success.
An Individual must go through the following process to obtain Humanitarian Parole through CHNV:
Have a US based supporter file an application online requesting to be a Supporter and giving a Declaration of Financial Support;
The beneficiary creates a USCIS Account, provides biographical information, and confirms that they meet all eligibility requirements.
The beneficiary submits a request in CBP One Mobil App.
The beneficiary receives a notice in their online account confirming if they have received “advance authorization to travel.”
When a beneficiary arrives at a port-of-entry (airport) CBP will inspect them for a grant of discretionary parole (i.e., CBP determines if they meet the programs requirements, if they present a threat to security, etc.)
This new process did not create Humanitarian Parole, instead, it changed the process for individuals from these countries on how they requested Humanitarian Parole.
These individuals are required to have someone within the United States who has legal status begin the process by filing an application and confirming they are willing to financially support the beneficiary.
The “advance authorization to travel” that the beneficiary receives through the CBP One App does not guarantee entry into the United States. Instead, it allows the person to travel to a port-of-entry by plane and be interviewed by a CBP Officer. CBP requires the same document/interview requirements that occur at the border, but now the number of cases are spread to more than just 8 ports-of-entry. These individuals are required to provide documentation and to provide detailed reasoning on why they are seeking Humanitarian Parole. Individuals are only granted Humanitarian Parole if there is a clear humanitarian reason that supports their entry into the United States. This can not be used to just travel to the United States or to join family in the United States. The individual must show that they are going to suffer severe harm if they are required to return to their country.
Humanitarian Parole does not grant the individual immigration status. It allows the applicant entry into the United States. Once the two-year parole ends, the person is at risk of being removed if they have not obtained legal status or have a pending application with USCIS or the Immigration Court. Many of these individuals are fleeing their countries due to persecution and are coming to the United States to seek asylum.
The CBP One App is not used as a tool to bring “illegals” into the United States. It limits the workload of the CBP Officers at ports-of-entry along the border by allowing CBP to schedule interviews in advance or spread those requiring interviews to other ports-of-entry. In reality, the CBP One App is used as a tool to limit the number of people eligible to file for asylum, which the exact opposite of the rumor that it is helping illegals enter the United States.
In short, the CBP One App has reduced the number of asylum applicants coming to the US in two ways: (1) it has created a streamlined process for scheduling interviews at the ports-of-entry on our southern border with Mexico; and it has created a useful tool to assist individuals seeking humanitarian parole for citizens of four countries (Haiti, Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua) to travel to multiple other ports-of-entries other than the ones located at the southern border. In both instances CBP officers examine if the applicant is eligible to enter, using well-established procedures and standards. It is not a “get to the US free” card as some claim.
Do not let people demonize immigrants. Base your decisions on the facts, not fear.