“Moving forward with or without CBP One”
The application of the United States Customs and Border Protection Agency (CBP One) was a key tool for thousands of migrants. It allowed you to enter documentation and asylum applications in advance in order to schedule an appointment with US immigration authorities and request asylum.
However, the situation changed with the inauguration of Donald Trump. The tool stopped operating and all scheduled appointments were cancelled, resulting in thousands of migrants being stranded in Mexico.
Bryan, a young 23-year-old Venezuelan migrant, knows first-hand the obstacles this represents, since in the six months he has been traveling he used the CBP One application and obtained an appointment to obtain asylum, which did not have the results that he expected. I expected.
His last appointment, scheduled for early 2025, ended in a 10-day detention and deportation to Villahermosa, Tabasco, via Laredo.
Back in the capital and sitting in a flower box in Plaza La Soledad, with a soft drink and some cookies as his only food of the day, Bryan explains that Trump’s new immigration policies do not eliminate his decision to travel to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, and seek to cross the border wall, regardless of the risks or the icy wave that hits the region.
They release us migrants without money, without anything, we live on the streets, we eat what we can. What we went through is hard, but we are here and I will try to get through (to the United States) with or without CBP One, that is faith.”
Bryan, Venezuelan migrant.
(David Santiago)
Another case is that of José, a Nicaraguan migrant who at 18 years old already has the experience of a 15-day detention for trying to cross illegally into the United States through Reynosa. Unlike Bryan, the immigration authorities only returned his cell phone, with which he has been able to communicate with his family.
José knows that, for now, all eyes will be on the border, which is why he prefers to stay in Mexico City to look for work and raise enough money to pay a person – commonly known as “Pollero” or “Coyote” – to guide you until you achieve your goal: reach Houston, Texas.
“It is better to be here in Mexico than to be detained there (in the United States) or there on the street at the border,” he says.
Some migrants who are in Plaza La Soledad gather in groups to sunbathe and talk about their travel experiences, but the majority agree that they will insist on returning to the northern border of Mexico.
