ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV

Advocates say Trump’s cancelation of the Biden administration’s CBP One scheduling system has left tens of thousands of vulnerable migrants in Mexico without a legal path to protection. Would-be asylum seekers have been checking the cell-phone app every day from Mexico, hoping to secure an appointment at a U.S. port of entry using the Biden administration’s required protocol.

Many have waited nearly a year for an appointment through the app’s lottery system, only to see their hopes dashed with the stroke of a pen on Monday, advocates say.

An estimated 30,000 existing CBP One appointments at U.S. ports of entry were canceled by Trump’s “Securing Our Borders� , said Laura Belous, managing attorney for the Florence Immigrant and Refugee Rights Project.

Without access to the app, asylum seekers in Mexico basically have no way forward, said Joanna Williams, executive director of the binational migrant-aid nonprofit Kino Border Initiative. At KBI’s shelter in Nogales, Sonora, some asylum seekers report waiting seven months for an appointment through CBP One, she said.

“Families want to, quote-unquote, ‘do it the right way,’� Williams said. But now, “there isn’t a pathway for them. It feels like a final nail in the coffin in some ways for our access to protection.�

Since January 2023, more than 900,000 people have received appointments through CBP One, allowing them to enter the U.S. at a port of entry in order to make their asylum request.

The Biden administration’s May 2023 “circumvention of lawful pathways“ rule required asylum seekers to schedule an appointment via the app before requesting asylum, despite U.S. law that says one can request asylum on U.S. soil, regardless of how one entered the country.

The Florence Project was among the advocacy groups that objected to the app’s limited number of appointments and access problems, Belous said.

“It was definitely a flawed pathway, but it was a pathway,� she said. “Now to have that removed really means people are going to be in a lot of danger. I think the cartels and human smugglers will really profit from having a more dangerous and chaotic situation at the border. I don’t think it’s going to make anyone safer.�

Regular pathways reduced chaos, advocates say

Immigrant-rights advocates have said Biden’s reforms at the border illegally restricted access to asylum, including his June 2024 order shutting down most asylum access during busy times at the southern border.

But Biden’s allies have pointed to his policies’ success at directing migrants to use regular channels to enter the U.S., through CBP One and humanitarian parole programs for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela.

Trump’s executive order on border security also cancels humanitarian parole.

Advocates also worry that executive orders banning asylum include no exceptions for vulnerable populations, such as unaccompanied minors or trafficking victims, said Belous of the Florence Project.

Under Biden’s administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said those pathways, plus aggressive immigration enforcement in Mexico, have dramatically reduced the number of people crossing irregularly.

In the last six months of 2024, border agent encounters with migrants between ports of entry dropped more than 70% compared to the same period in 2023, CBP data show.

By dismantling those regular pathways to reach U.S. soil, Trump may end up driving more unauthorized crossings between ports of entry, said Doris Meissner of the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute, during a Tuesday press briefing.

“The Trump administration is inheriting a stable border. ... So the dismantling (of) Biden’s border policies, which have brought things to the point we currently see, could actually increase rather than decrease pressures to cross illegally,� said Meissner, senior fellow and director of MPI’s U.S. Immigration Policy Program. “We know there are significantly large numbers of people who have been waiting in Mexico in order to cross in orderly ways, and those orderly ways have now been eliminated.�

At KBI, staff are advising asylum seekers to take some time before making any decisions about what to do next, Williams said. Some are likely considering entering the U.S. between ports of entry, she said.

“If I was a mom in the shoes of the moms currently at Kino, I would do whatever I could to keep my kids safe,� she said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if some people decide the risk of dying in the desert outweighs the risk of dying while staying put.�

No way forward

On Monday, about 20 people staying at Kino Border Initiative’s Nogales, Sonora shelter were notified that their appointments at 4:30 p.m. that day had been canceled, Williams said.

The devastating news was difficult to accept, so the asylum seekers went to the DeConcini Port of Entry anyway and confirmed with a CBP officer that their appointments were no longer valid, she said.

Most of those asylum seekers were from Venezuela, including a mother, traveling with her child, who said they fled Venezuela after her husband was forcibly “disappeared,� possibly kidnapped or killed, by the repressive government regime, she said.

Another Venezuelan family who stayed at KBI was forced to miss their long-awaited CBP One appointment over the weekend, after they were detained and extorted by Mexican National Guard members, who wouldn’t release the family until they paid a bribe, Williams said.

“Many of these families, especially the ones being affected by canceled appointments, many of them have not been in Nogales for long,� she said. “They’re newly arriving to Nogales from Central America or southern Mexico, they don’t have legal documentation, and now they’re in a place where they don’t have strong networks or contacts. It’s incredibly important for them to find some access to stability and assistance, or access legal status� in Mexico, she said.

A group of shelters in Nogales, Sonora are trying to find more temporary shelter space to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants who arrive there without any resources, Williams said.

Migrants waiting or stranded in Mexico are easy prey for criminal groups, including Mexican nationals fleeing violence in their home country.

have rampant cases of torture, murder, kidnapping, rape and extortion of migrants, especially under Trump’s “Remain in Mexico� policy during his previous term as president, which forced asylum seekers to wait for their immigration hearings south of the border. Trump also signed an order Monday to re-instate that program, which would require cooperation from Mexico.

Lucrative human-smuggling operations, which advocates say capitalize on the lack of legal pathways to enter the U.S., have enriched criminal groups and especially thrived during the pandemic-era Title 42 policy, when border agents rapidly deported migrants with no formal consequence to Mexico, advocates say.

Title 42 resulted in more repeat attempts by migrants, as well as a surge in “gotaways,� migrants who successfully evaded border agents, MPI’s analysis has shown.

Other executive orders

Trump also signed an executive order targeting birthright citizenship, a move that’s already facing a legal challenge. Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes announced Tuesday she will challenge the order that seeks to end automatic citizenship for children born on U.S. soil, regardless of their parents’ immigration status.

Tucson immigration attorney Mo Goldman said that as worded, Trump’s executive order would not only deny citizenship to children born to undocumented immigrants; it would also apply to children of immigrants in the country legally but temporarily, such as through a work visa.

That could have big consequences for children of immigrants legally here on student or work visas. Many intending to stay long-term often face a years-long process before securing permanent resident status, he said.

“A lot of people who have been here for a long time waiting on green cards for different reasons, with different types of work visas, they have children born here. It happens,� he said. “This is just the start of what is going to be a pretty contentious legal battle.�

Birthright citizenship is enshrined in the 14th Amendment, which states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.�

Most legal scholars say denying birthright citizenship would require a constitutional amendment, and Trump’s attempt to re-interpret the provision likely won’t survive a legal challenge, Meissner of MPI said.

But the executive order could still cause chaos and confusion for children and new parents, as well as hospitals and state agencies that issue vital documents such as birth certificates, said Migration Policy Institute’s Muzaffar Chishti, during the Tuesday press briefing.

“Obviously right now, hospitals do not require anyone to bring papers about their legal status,� said Chishti, director of the Migration Policy Institute’s office at New York University’s School of Law. “In terms of what kind of a burden it places on municipalities and our state department and hospitals, we don’t even appreciate the enormity of it. I think just the challenge of implementation may itself be an impediment of this becoming in effect anytime soon.�

Trump also signed an laying the groundwork to designate “cartels� as foreign terrorist organizations. It directs the secretary of state to recommend specific criminal groups for the designation within 14 days.

In November the ÃÛÌÒÓ°ÏñAV analyzed Trump’s threat to send troops to “eliminateâ€� criminal groups in Mexico and to designate them as terrorist organizations. Experts told the Star that while the move could pressure Mexico to crack down on the crime groups that now have control over some areas of the country, it could also strain relations with Mexico, a critical ally, and lessen chances to collaborate with Mexico’s leaders on security issues.

It could also give Mexican asylum seekers fleeing violence an even stronger case in their petitions for protection, experts said.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Tuesday in a press briefing that Mexico would defend its sovereignty but would coordinate with the U.S. following Monday’s executive orders, the Associated Press reported.

“We all want to fight the drug cartels,� Sheinbaum said. The U.S. “in their territory, us in our territory.�