The Biden administration is making it easier for Mexican migrants to get asylum appointments in the US.
White House officials on Saturday confirmed the expansion of the CBP One app zone by adding two states from southern Mexico. According to the AP – CBP says the change will spare migrants from traveling north through Mexico to get one of the nearly 1,500 appointments made available each day.
Since its introduction in January 2023, more than 680,000 people have scheduled appointments with the app. But critics, like Trump running mate JD Vance, say the process is simply illegal immigration by another name.
The expansion of the CBP One app comes as the Biden administration is suspending immigration permits from four countries. The US has temporarily halted two-year permits for people coming from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela due to fraud concerns from their financial sponsors.
The Department of Homeland Security says it’s currently reviewing sponsors’ backgrounds and will “restart application processing as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards.”