BC researcher studies 'digital barrier' to migration
A mobile app created to provide a gateway to the American asylum system for migrants at the United States-Mexican border holds promise but sorely needs improvement, according to a new study by Boston College School of Social Work Assistant Professor Alejandro Olayo-Méndez, S.J.
The report, published by Jesuit Refugee Service USA, says that U.S. migration policy has added a “digital barrier” to the border, describing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app as “a narrow pathway to entry in the U.S. for individuals and families seeking safety.” Those able to obtain reliable information and an appointment with CBP One will find that the app “provides much needed relief from threats to security and overall well-being.”
But the limitations of the current CBP One app, along with other factors, mean that the many thousands of migrants seeking entry to the U.S. continue waiting for an appointment while facing serious health and safety concerns, warned the report, “Navigating the U.S.-Mexico Border,” which examines the digital practices of migrants and their psychosocial needs and includes a series of recommendations for improving the scope and efficiency of the asylum system.
“People need to have a step-by-step understanding of the asylum process—what happens when and what’s necessary to complete it—so they can be better prepared and not feel overwhelmed,” said Fr. Olayo-Méndez in a recent interview. “For that to happen, they need access to official, reliable information that is understandable, not in legal or technical jargon. The CBP One app has been continually updated and is light years better than what it was a year ago, but there is still much that needs to be done.”
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched CBP One in 2020, providing a single portal to a variety of CBP services to which users are directed through a series of guided questions. In January of 2023, the application became available for asylum seekers to submit biographical information in advance, request and schedule an appointment at an eligible port of entry in the southwest U.S. border, and begin the asylum process. There are eight such ports, at locations in California, Arizona, and Texas, with the infrastructure to admit people through CBP One.
Currently, CBP One appointments are limited to 1,450 every day, spread across each eligible port of entry. Appointments are available 21 days in advance, but due to the application’s utilization of geolocation software, migrants hoping to file for asylum in the U.S. can only schedule an appointment once they have reached central and northern Mexico.
Through the assistance of Jesuit Refugee Service USA and Jesuit Refugee Service (Mexico), Fr. Olayo-Méndez and a research team conducted 58 interviews with migrants in all the corresponding Mexican cities to the eight ports of entry. Every port was visited at least twice during the project. Fr. Olayo-Méndez collected data at 12 shelters and two informal camps in Mexico, and conducted 10 interviews with shelter directors and staff.
The researchers found that half of the interviewees felt “more secure” having a cell phone, and their most common sources of information about CBP One and crossing into the U.S. came from social media and word of mouth from personal networks or trusted social ties. Only a fourth felt the information they received about the asylum process is reliable. WhatsApp, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and YouTube were their most-used digital platforms. Although a majority of the respondents said they knew “a little” about CBP One before starting their journey, about a fourth said they knew “nothing.”
About a third of the interviewees had been waiting at least three to six months for a CBP One appointment; almost a fourth one to three months.
Fr. Olayo-Méndez pointed out that, due to changes and policies, some people are dropped from CBP One registrations without their knowledge and must start over again, even after having waited for several months.
“The problem is not so much the app, but the process of presenting oneself at the border and the lack of accessible information available to people,” he said. “People get to know what CBP One is along the way through news or through word of mouth. But they only know that there is an application that provides an appointment to enter the U.S.”
Furthermore, migrants need a mobile phone that can handle the latest update of CBP One to schedule their meeting, operate on different social media platforms, and work on high-speed Internet. Another challenge is to find places to charge the phone, which puts a burden on migrant shelters because it requires setting up systems and outlets to allow a large number of people to do so.
“The problem is not so much the app, but the process of presenting oneself at the border and the lack of accessible information available to people. People get to know what CBP One is along the way through news or through word of mouth. But they only know that there is an application that provides an appointment to enter the U.S.”
In addition to assessing migrants’ respective familiarity with and use of digital technology, including CBP One, Fr. Olayo-Méndez and his team also asked about their motivations for migrating, encounters with violence at home, and experiences during the migration journey. Some individual anecdotes and comments are featured in the report.
“They are not only fleeing violence, or the threat of being killed, but in some cases because their children are being recruited by cartels or gangs,” he said. “For them, there is no choice but to leave, despite what they have to endure on the journey.”
Already coping with physical and mental health issues when they arrive at shelters, said Fr. Olayo-Méndez, many of the migrants then undergo the stress and anxiety of waiting for an appointment to enter the U.S. and start the asylum process.
The report lays out a series of recommendations, including: ensure access to reliable, accurate information on the asylum process and using CBP One, while providing timely, relevant information about the CBP One process and outcomes; increase CBP One appointments to at least 5,000 a day and robustly fund efficient, consistent processing operations; hire more asylum officers and immigration judges, and fund programs to support asylum-seekers during the legal process; fund programs that support border and destination communities receiving migrants; coordinate with regional partners, NGOs, and civil society to ease protection concerns and eliminate misinformation.
The advent of smartphones has had a major impact on migration, said Fr. Olayo-Méndez, and such devices have become essential for people in search of refuge in the U.S.
“But the need of a smartphone has other consequences that puts a burden on people seeking asylum and those humanitarian organizations that support them when they are in vulnerable positions.”