A government-run cellphone app meant to curtail illegal immigration has resulted in more than a quarter of a million immigrants being released into the United States, according to new federal data.
The CBP One app was introduced in January to provide noncitizens with an orderly way to enter the country through screening appointments to determine admissibility. The Department of Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection agency granted admission to immigrants who were not refugees in 95% of cases, according to data requested by the House Homeland Security Committee's Republican leadership.
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Of the 278,431 immigrants who were able to request an appointment with CBP's officers at ports of entry between Jan. 12 and Sept. 30, officers granted admission to 266,846 people. Of that figure, immigrants admitted into the country included 55,690 Venezuelans, 19,780 Russians, 1,866 Uzbeks, 229 Afghans, 32 Chinese, and 16 Iranians.
“Secretary Mayorkas has utterly abused the CBP One app in his quest for open borders,” said Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) in a statement. “These numbers are proof that Mayorkas’ operation is a smokescreen for the mass release of individuals into this country who would otherwise have zero claim to be admitted. At a time when global tensions are rising, and our enemies are growing bolder, releasing tens of thousands of these people into our communities — especially when they have not received adequate, if any, vetting — is irresponsible."
Immigrants who were admitted following appointments were given a notice to appear in immigration court about their ability to remain in the country, proceedings that will not lead to a decision for several years due to the 2 million case backlog before the less than 700 judges nationwide.
The new information came months after Green first requested information about the CBP One app in June, then again reissued his request to the DHS in August and October.
On Oct. 13, Green subpoenaed the DHS for failing to respond multiple times.
The new findings were provided to the committee over the weekend and are particularly significant given the Washington Examiner's August investigation into how Mexican cartels had found a way to sell the ability to register for appointments, thus increasing the number of immigrants seeking them in the first place.
The app was rolled out earlier this year as a way for immigrants who had already traveled through Mexico and made it to northern Mexico to interview with U.S. CBP officers about the possibility of being released into the country. The interviews, CBP anticipated, would cause fewer immigrants to walk around the ports of entry and illegally enter, thus lowering Border Patrol arrests.
But the cartels determined that with the use of a virtual private network, they could override the CBP One app's geofencing and request an appointment from anywhere in the world, not just northern Mexico. The Mexican government had sought to bar immigrants from crossing from Guatemala by requiring already scheduled CBP One app appointments, which was not possible because immigrants could only do so from northern Mexico.
"Mexico will certainly let people through if they have an appointment, they're sort of counting that as a de facto transit visa," said Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight for the liberal immigrant advocacy organization the Washington Office on Latin America, in an August interview with the Washington Examiner. "It's sabotage, and they know very well that people can't normally get an appointment unless they're north of Mexico City."
The cartels' technology service allowed immigrants to pay cartels at the Guatemala-Mexico border for an appointment and be admitted to Mexico to be able to travel to the U.S., resulting in an unknown number of appointments that should not have been possible to schedule.
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CBP spokeswoman Erin Waters said in a statement to the Washington Examiner in August that "Claims that the CBP One app has been hacked are categorically false. Criminal organizations and smugglers continue to prey on vulnerable migrants, lying to them and putting them in harm’s way. Here is the reality: The lawful and orderly pathways we have established have been bad for cartels and other criminal organizations seeking to exploit migrants."
Waters maintained the agency was "continually monitoring and evaluating the application to ensure its functionality and guard against bad actors."