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NOTEWORTHY
- In FOIA Case, CBP Agrees to Inform Individuals if They Were Interviewed by CBP Officers Posing as Asylum Officers
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) implemented a pilot program at nine immigration detention centers where U.S. Border Patrol agents employed by CBP, rather than trained asylum officers, conducted credible fear interviews. Between May 2019 through March 2020, CBP and USCIS rolled out the pilot and shared little to no information about the program. The American Immigration Council and the Tahirih Justice Center filed a FOIA lawsuit to learn more about the program. To resolve the suit, USCIS and CBP agreed to confirm whether CBP Border Patrol agents conducted the credible fear interviews of up to 1000 individuals.
Information about the detention facilities where the interviews took place and other information about how to benefit from the agreement reached with CBP is available in FAQs issued by the American Immigration Council, Tahirih Justice Center, and Immigrant Legal Defense.
Read more here: FOIA Lawsuit Demands Information About CBP Officers’ Role in Credible Fear Interview Process
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Council Updates CBP One Resource as the Agency Changes App’s Function
The American Immigration Council has updated its fact sheet providing information about CBP One. The update comes as a result of U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) adopting a rule that makes registering for inspection appointments at ports of entry via CBP One virtually a requirement for asylum seekers entering the United States through the southwest border.
The update also includes new information about CBP’s changes to the process for scheduling appointments with the app. CBP One now allows individuals to register for appointments during a twenty-three hour period. A CBP algorithm then selects those registrants who will get appointments, with a certain level of preference given to those who have been waiting longer. Asylum-seekers who did not get an appointment can try again the following day.
The Council’s resources on CBP One—based in part on information received through a FOIA request and subsequent litigation—have been widely used by the public to understand the app’s functions. The New York Times cited to the fact sheet in an op-ed about developments at the southern border and Senator Corey Booker referenced the Council’s report about CBP One’s evolution from cargo inspection scheduling tool to principal gateway for asylum seekers in a letter to DHS seeking accountability for the app’s shortcomings.
Read more: CBP One: An Overview
The American Immigration Council works to hold the government accountable on immigration issues. We harness freedom of information requests, litigation, and advocacy to expose wrongdoing and promote transparency within immigration agencies.
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