Though he talks a good humanitarian game, President Joe Biden keeps cracking down on people fleeing danger and persecution in their home countries. One of the most galling examples of this is the recent requirement that people who are seeking asylum in the United States must first download the “CBP One” app to arrange an appointment at the border.
If you want a real-time window into the frustration and hopelessness of the situation, just check out some of the heartbreaking reviews of the app in Apple’s app store.
It’s been widely reported that the buggy app crashes regularly and—even though you’re required to take a short video selfie—for some reason the app has been having difficulty handling darker skin tones.
Let’s hope that’s a bug and not a feature of the app.
It’s absurd the United States is requiring people who have uprooted their families and may very well be fleeing past (and current) violence to download an app on a smartphone they may or may not have. (And be sure you have at least 178.6 megabytes of space free on your phone as you hike across the desert!)
While an app requirement may not seem like much, it sure appears like it’s intended to be nothing more than a new technological hurdle to avoid dealing with people who have a legal right to seek asylum.
Meanwhile, if you’re an “unaccompanied minor” who has made it into the United States, there’s a very good chance you’ll be absorbed into a shadowy world of exploitative child labor.