Online System to Seek Asylum in U.S. Is Quickly Overwhelmed

Immigration attorney Leon Fresco was quoted in an Associated Press article discussing the issues users are experiencing with the U.S. government’s CBPOne mobile app. The app, which was introduced by the Biden Administration earlier this year, serves as a single portal to a variety of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) services. One of the services on the app can help migrants secure an appointment to try to seek asylum in the U.S. However, because of overload and technical issues the app constantly crashes and freezes. Mr. Fresco noted that for CBPOne to be effective in discouraging illegal border crossings, enough people must successfully get appointments.

"If these appointments start dragging out to two or three or four months, it's going to be much harder to keep it going," he said. "If people aren’t getting through, they won't use the program."

READ: Online System to Seek Asylum in U.S. Is Quickly Overwhelmed