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Migrants on Mexico’s northern border are racing against the clock for an asylum appointment in the United States using CBP One, the digital application of the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) that the next president, Donald Trump, has promised to eliminate, leaving thousands in limbo.
The climate of anxiety has grown in recent months in Ciudad Juárez, bordering El Paso, Texas, where migrants told EFE that waiting times for appointments have been extended, there are technical failures and high demand before Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
“First, I hope I get approval for the appointment before (Trump) takes office and, if it doesn’t come, I’ll wait and see what happens,” said Ricardo Bravo, a Venezuelan who has been living on the border of Ciudad Juárez for days.
Migrants recall that during his first presidency (2017-2021), Trump implemented restrictive measures such as the ‘Remain in Mexico’ program, which forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexican territory while their cases were resolved.
“I think that if a way is not found before Trump takes office, all of this will overflow the borders, once again all of the Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, Guatemalans, all of these people will look for a way to enter the country illegally,” Ricardo predicted.
Migration does not stop
Despite a 76% drop in daily migrant apprehensions at the U.S. border since December, according to the Mexican government, irregular migration through Mexico rose 193% year-over-year to a record of more than 712,000 people, according to the Migration Policy Unit.
Among those seeking to reach the United States are Mexicans, such as Fátima García Morales, originally from the southern state of Campeche who has been in Ciudad Juárez for seven months awaiting an asylum appointment.
“We are fleeing because of the risk that our daughters will be taken from us to be turned into prostitutes later on, when they are older, or that something will be done to us women. That is the risk that we Mexicans are also fleeing from,” she explained.
Insufficient technology
President Joe Biden’s administration announced the CBP One app as a technological solution to streamline access to ports of entry at the border, but activists have criticized it for its limited capacity to respond to high demand.
Many migrants report constant problems, such as platform blockages, restrictive schedules for scheduling appointments and lack of technical assistance.
“Not everyone has a proper phone or internet access. It’s a tool that excludes the most vulnerable,” said Lourdes Contreras, a volunteer at a local shelter.
“People here are desperate, and every day that passes without an appointment increases their anxiety,” he added.
The situation is aggravated by the climate of urgency that Trump’s victory has aroused among migrants, who fear that time will not allow them to complete the necessary procedures before possible legal changes, such as mass deportations.
Shelters in Ciudad Juárez are also on edge, and organizations working in the region warn that the lack of effective solutions is putting both migrants and the communities hosting them at risk.
In addition, the psychological impact of waiting and uncertainty has become evident.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen, if they’re going to deport everyone here along the border or just the displaced Mexicans or the Mexicans who are in the United States here at the border,” said Pastor Juan Fierro García, director of the El Buen Samaritano shelter of the Methodist Church of Mexico.
“I believe that Mexico, and all of Mexico’s borders, are not prepared to receive these people and to be able to provide them with some kind of shelter,” he warned. EFE
