New legal pathways for asylum-seekers: CBP One launches digital application feature

The Biden administration has announced new legal pathways to the United States for some asylum-seekers and is launching new features on an app where migrants can apply digitally.

The Department of Homeland Security's stated goal is to reduce the number of migrants crossing the U.S. border without authorization between ports of entry and to slow the surge in migration through the hemisphere. The online application is designed to encourage migrants to make a direct application to lawfully enter the U.S., reducing the use of smugglers.

"This new process is orderly, safe, humane — and it works," Biden said in remarks from the White House on Jan. 5, in which he announced new border policies.

The CBP One application features for asylum-seekers went live Thursday.

Here's what you need to know:

What is the CBP One app?

The app is a virtual U.S. Customs and Border Protection office, where individual travelers, customs brokers, truck drivers and others can fill out and submit their documents. It can be downloaded on a cellphone, either through an Android or iPhone app store, and it's free.

Although the app launched in 2020, CBP One got a lot of attention in early January when the Biden administration announced new lawful pathways for some asylum-seekers and other migrants and said they could apply via the app.

Users create a login name and password and can browse through options that include reporting an arrival or departure, applying for an I-94 travel permit, view travel history or access the new feature called "submit advance information."

Once launched, this tab is where asylum-seekers intending to present at a Southwest border port of entry can provide advance information and seek travel documents and an appointment.

How can asylum-seekers use CBP One and who is eligible?

Asylum-seekers located in central or northern Mexico can use the app to seek an exemption to the Title 42 expulsion order.

Likewise, Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans can use the app to apply for one of up to 30,000 slots for temporary parole into the country, which are being made available to them each month. However, their process must be initiated by a U.S.-based sponsor, via U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

CBP has been allowing some especially vulnerable migrants to request an exemption to shield themselves from quick expulsion to Mexico or their home countries. Previously, only advocacy and legal aid organizations could apply for the exemptions on behalf of migrants; now, through the app, migrants can apply directly.

El Paso's Paso del Norte bridge is one of the locations where Title 42-exempt migrants can present for an appointment. Other ports in Texas include Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Hidalgo and Laredo; Nogales in Arizona; and Calexico West and the San Ysidro pedestrian crossing in California.

Dig Deeper:What is Title 42, when does it end, how does it impact US-Mexico border? Here's what to know

For the new pathway for Cubans, Venezuelans, Nicaraguans and Haitians, people from the four eligible countries can submit their application for travel documents via the app. They must have a valid passport and prove sponsorship in the United States, undergo a vetting process and meet other criteria. They may enter via air travel to the U.S.

The first appointments will begin Jan. 18, according to CBP.

The app is currently available in English and Spanish, but the administration has said additional languages, including Haitian Creole, will be forthcoming. Fact sheets are available in those three languages, as well as Russian and Portuguese.

What is the controversy around CBP One?

The Biden administration says its new policies and app will expand access to lawful pathways to the U.S. for many people who have previously had few legal options — and could protect them from unscrupulous smugglers and discourage them from making the dangerous journey north.

In a post to Twitter, CBP acting Commissioner Troy Miller said, "Expanded access to the CBP One app in Central Mexico is designed to discourage noncitizens from congregating near the border in unsafe conditions."

Immigrant advocates say they are concerned that a process requiring access to a cellphone and data plan or stable Internet connection could prove difficult or impossible for some migrants. They also say forcing migrants to wait in their home countries, or in Mexico, for travel documents or an appointment could put them in danger.

"The individuals who we are talking about have fled for their lives only to hear the president callously say, ‘They should stay where they are,'" said Mary Miller Flowers, senior policy analyst with the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights. "Under U.S. laws and treaty obligations, people have the right to come to the border and seek asylum regardless of what country they come from or what documents they hold."

Raul Pinto, senior staff attorney with the Washington, D.C.-based American Immigration Council, said there is still more to learn about how the app will be used by the government, and whether certain features could expand or further restrict access to the border for migrants.

"Is this going to be utilized as a tool to continue to keep people from these processes?" he said. "With any new technology, accountability and transparency are key. The agencies haven’t put out all the information so people can decide whether they want to use it."