By Lety Villarreal
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, Nov 24 (EFE).- Migrants on Mexico’s northern border are racing to get an asylum appointment in the United States using “CBP One,” a digital Customs and Border Protection application that President-elect Donald Trump has promised to scrap, leaving thousands in limbo.
The climate of fear in Ciudad Juárez, which borders the US state of El Paso, Texas, has increased in recent months.Migrants told EFE that waiting times for the appointments have increased, technical difficulties persist and demand is high ahead of Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
“First of all, I hope I get the appointment before he (Trump) takes office, and if I don’t, I’ll wait to see what happens,” said Ricardo Bravo, a Venezuelan who has been living at the Ciudad Juárez border for days.Migrants remember that during his first presidency (2017-2021), Trump implemented restrictive measures such as the “Remain in Mexico” program, which forced asylum seekers to wait on Mexican territory while their cases were resolved.
“I think that if there is no solution before Trump takes office, all this will flood the borders again, all the Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and Guatemalans, all these people will be looking for a way to enter the country illegally,” Ricardo said.
The migration does not stop
Despite a 76% drop in the daily detention of migrants at the US border since December, according to the Mexican government, irregular migration through Mexico rose 193% year-on-year to a record high of more than 712,000 people, according to the National Institute of Migration.
Among those trying to reach the US are Mexicans like Fátima García Morales, originally from the southern state of Campeche, who has been in Ciudad Juárez for seven months awaiting an asylum hearing.”We are fleeing because we do not want them to prostitute our daughters when they get older or to do anything to harm us (women). That is why we (Mexicans) are fleeing,” she said.
Technology limitations
President Joe Biden’s administration announced the “CBP One” application as a tech solution to manage access to ports of entry at the border yet activists have criticized it for its limited ability to respond to high demand.
Many migrants report ongoing problems, such as platform restrictions, restrictive appointment times, and a lack of technical support.
“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 goes by without an appointment increases their anxiety,” she added.
The situation has worsened because of the climate of urgency that Trump’s victory created among migrants, who fear that time is running out to complete the necessary procedures before possible changes in the law, such as mass deportations.
Shelters in Ciudad Juárez are also on standby, and organizations working in the region warned that the lack of effective solutions is putting both migrants and the communities who give them refugee at risk.
“We don’t know what’s going to happen if they deport everyone here at the border or just the Mexicans who are here at the border in the US,” said Pastor Juan Fierro, director of the El Buen Samaritano Methodist Church of Mexico Shelter.
“I believe that Mexico and all of Mexico’s borders are not prepared to receive these people and give them some kind of shelter,” he warned. EFE
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