EAGLE PASS, Texas — The Biden-Harris Administration has released Venezuelan migrants and families who entered the United States through the CBP One mobile phone app onto the streets of Eagle Pass, where the migrants say they were never asked about asylum or credible fears before being released into the United States.
Rodrigo, a Venezuelan national who did not want to give his real name, and his family wandered the streets of Eagle Pass Thursday night looking for a place to sleep. Unable to find an open migrant shelter and with no money, Rodrigo had his hands full searching for somewhere his children might sleep. Because he had only been allowed into the U.S. earlier that day, he said, he did not have to apply for asylum or answer asylum-related questions with CBP officers at the port of entry to enter under the Biden-Harris CBP One program.
Rodrigo's wife was in tears as the family walked the streets looking for shelter. The family of four, including Rodrigo's 14-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son, walked about five miles across the city together. With no money for food or hotel bills, the family had no choice but to find a convenience store that was open so the children could sleep under Rodrigo's watch.
Breitbart Texas encountered the family more than four miles from the Eagle Pass Camino Real port of entry. They had entered the US under the Biden-Harris CBP One asylum program and been released more than eight hours earlier that day. Rodrigo said the family had been waiting for a CBP One appointment in Mexico for two months, trying multiple times on the CBP One app on their smartphones to secure one of four of the 1,450 daily appointment slots available for migrants to be released into the US.
The program allows immigrants to enter the U.S. without a formal fear hearing before an asylum judge. Rather than say why he applied for asylum, Rodrigo told Breitbart Texas in a brief interview that the topic of asylum never came up. Rodrigo said he only had to prove that he was the father of his children and that Myrna was his wife.
When asked if he was asked to verbally request asylum or tell CBP officers why he left his country or what he feared back home during the immigration process, Rodrigo said, “No, I was not interviewed like that.”
Rodrigo said he paid for his trip from southern Mexico and was not participating in the recently established Secure Emerging Mobility Corridor bus program, which provides free transportation, food and security to those who make CBP One reservations at any of the eight land ports of entry along the southwest border. As Breitbart reported, the program was launched by the Mexican government after a series of bilateral meetings between the AMLO administration and the Biden-Harris administration, which expanded the geographic scope of CBP One applications to southern Mexico.
The CBP One smartphone application is separate from recently restarted programs for migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela that allow up to 1,000 migrants to enter the U.S. daily. The two Biden-Harris programs allow more than 800,000 migrants to be released into the U.S. each year to apply for asylum or become eligible for parole.
Randy Clark Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the U.S. Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as Chief of the Law Enforcement Operations Division, where he led operations for nine Border Patrol stations in the Del Rio Sector, Texas. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
