A Venezuelan migrant and his family, who entered the United States through the CBP One app, were released onto the streets of Eagle Pass without being asked about their asylum claims or credible fear. Rodrigo, who wished to remain anonymous, and his family were left to fend for themselves, searching for a place to sleep and food to eat.
After being released from the Eagle Pass Camino Real Port of Entry, the family of four, including Rodrigo’s 14-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son, wandered the streets for hours, desperate for shelter. With no money and no place to go, they considered spending the night at an open convenience store. Rodrigo’s wife was visibly distraught as they walked, her eyes welling up with tears.
The family had traveled nearly five miles across the city, exhausted and hungry. Rodrigo explained that they had waited two months for a CBP One appointment in Mexico, making multiple attempts to secure one of the 1,450 daily slots that allow migrants to enter the United States. Despite the lengthy wait, the family was not required to undergo a formal credible fear hearing or provide a verbal claim of asylum.
During a brief interview, Rodrigo revealed that he was only asked to verify his relationship with his children and wife, Myrna. When asked if he was questioned about his reasons for leaving Venezuela or his fears, he replied, “No, they didn’t interview us like that.” Rodrigo funded his own trip from southern Mexico, opting not to use the Secure Emerging Mobility Corridor busing program, which provides free travel and security for migrants with CBP One appointments.
The CBP One app, a separate program from the recently reinstated Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan program, allows migrants to enter the United States without a formal asylum hearing. Combined, the two programs release over 800,000 migrants into the United States annually, allegedly to pursue asylum claims or under parole status.
