TIJUANA, Mexico — About 200 migrants who had their CBP One immigration appointments canceled when President Trump was sworn into workplace are refusing to go away the San Ysidro border checkpoint till they’re seen.
“We had an appointment for tomorrow at 1 p.m.,” stated Erica Ramirez, 50, who traveled from southern Mexico along with her 24-year-old son, his spouse, and their younger kids within the hopes of escaping rampant crime of their hometown.
“We have been waiting for the appointment for 11 months,” she advised The Publish Monday. “We will keep waiting here until we get an appointment.”
Ramirez and her household are amongst scores of asylum seekers who had their long-awaited immigration appointments canceled at midday when Trump took workplace and instantly halted the usage of CBP One — a Customs and Border Safety Company app the Biden administration used to permit about 900,000 migrants to stream into the nation over the last two years of his time period.
The app allowed greater than 1,400 individuals every day to schedule appointments with immigration officers at US ports of entry, after which make their means into the states — that means about 43,000 migrants per 30 days have been being given probabilities to enter the nation by CBP One because it was launched in January 2023.
Trump stripped it away as one in every of a number of sweeping Day 1 acts to handle the border disaster, which he declared a nationwide emergency throughout his inaugural deal with.
A younger Cuban couple on the San Ysidro border checkpoint had an appointment at 1 p.m. — simply an hour after the app scrapped all appointments as Trump took energy.
Luis Miguel Alvarez, 22, and Adriana Lopez, 20, had relocated to Mexico Metropolis after being persecuted by Cuba’s authorities, they stated. The pair had been ready to safe a CBP One appointment since they made the transfer in November 2023 and on Jan. 2 have been lastly given a time and date — for one hour into Trump’s second time period as president.
“We found out our appointment was canceled at 9 a.m. this morning,” Alvarez advised The Publish. “I am devastated that our appointment was canceled but we still have hope.”
The pair had supposed to say political asylum.
In Cuba, Lopez was finding out robotic engineering and Alvarez was finding out nuclear engineering however was allegedly kicked out of his programs for his political opinions. He stated they couldn’t return as Cuban police harassed them and that Mexico, their present residence, was harmful.
“We understand that the new president wants to defend his country and its borders but we are not criminals,” Alvarez stated. “We want to study, work and be of help to the United States.”
Some migrants have been filmed weeping on the Mexican aspect of the border after they noticed that their long-awaited appointments had been canceled with the app’s closure.
Others — like Ramirez — are refusing to go away till they get the appointment they have been lengthy promised.
She deliberate to spend the night time on the border checkpoint along with her son, daughter-in-law, and their 1-year-old and 4-month-old daughters.
“We will sleep on this very site,” she stated. “The state where I am from, Guerrero, is very, very dangerous. There is a lot of violence.”
“My son is a builder and I am a cleaner,” she stated.
“We are going to America for a better life, fleeing from crime and the fear we have in our own country.”
Alvarez and Lopez have been equally holding out hope for an appointment, including that sneaking throughout the border was by no means of their playing cards.
“It is not an option to break the law. We want to enter America the right way, which is why we have been waiting since 2023,” Alvarez stated.
