Homeland Security announced late Friday that it is expanding the daily number of slots for unauthorized migrants to schedule appointments to come into the U.S. to 1,450 a day.
That’s 200 more slots per day.
The slots are scheduled through a smartphone app, CBP One, which the Biden administration is billing as a “lawful pathway” for migrants who don’t have a legal visa to enter the country to be able to apply for entry anyway, taking advantage of the administration’s catch-and-release policies to gain a foothold in the U.S.
Biden officials say that giving migrants a chance to enter through official border crossings keeps them from jumping the border between the ports of entry, and reduces the load on the Border Patrol.
Customs and Border Protection described the app as offering “a safe, orderly and humane” process.
But critics say those who come are still in the U.S. without lawful status, so the overall number of illegal immigrants isn’t reduced.
The CBP One arrivals are in addition to tens of thousands of other unauthorized migrants who are showing up at airports deep inside the U.S. under another Homeland Security program that offers a “parole” to Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, Nicaraguans and Ukrainians who likewise schedule their entries.
In May, the last month for which there is data, the Border Patrol reported 170,284 arrests, down from 184,306 the month before. But overall unauthorized entries, including those at airports and legal land crossings, remained about even.
Homeland Security officials say that CBP One helps reduce the cartels’ influence on the border because migrants might be able to avoid paying the “mafia fee,” which is the tax the cartel charges most illegal immigrants for using their routes across the border.
The mafia fee can range anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to $2,000 per person, according to The Washington Times’ database of smuggling cases.
