Amnesty International examined the human rights issues associated with the use of CBP One – a mobile application launched by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on October 28, 2020.
Following the termination of Title 42 and in accordance with the Final Rule, people seeking asylum are now required to use the CBP One application to schedule a time to arrive at participating ports of entry along the US-Mexico border in order to present their asylum claims, unless they are able to demonstrate “by a preponderance of the evidence that it was not possible to access or use the CBP One app due to language barrier, illiteracy, significant technical failure, or other ongoing and serious obstacle.”
Asylum seekers who arrive at ports of entry without having previously scheduled an appointment through CBP One and who are unable to prove that it was not possible to access or use the application, or who do not meet one of the two other exceptions in the Final Rule, will be presumed to be ineligible for asylum.
Some of the issues covered in the report include:
- Challenges in using the CBP One mobile application to seek asylum
- Technological considerations and privacy and surveillance concerns
- Situation in Mexico while waiting for CBP One appointments
- Mandatory use of CBP One to seek asylum violates the United States’ and Mexico’s international human rights and refugee law obligations
- Impacts on asylum seekers