The Biden administration has seemingly doubled down on its stance of open borders through a key border program, CBP One, an application that allows migrants to bypass traditional waiting periods for work authorization. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the application permits migrants to “apply immediately for an employment authorization document,” providing a direct route to the American job market.
From January to July, more than 188,500 migrants scheduled entry appointments using this app at various southern border ports, based on federal data. This policy direction has garnered support from Democratic politicians pressing the administration to expedite work permits for migrants.
Look at this news article from The Daily Caller: The Biden Admin Is Ushering Tens Of Thousands Of Migrants Each Month To Work In The US Through Key Border Program https://t.co/Xed1lduHSM
— American Outlaw 🇺🇸 (@wellsh40) September 3, 2023
Lora Ries, Former Acting Deputy Chief of Staff at DHS during the Trump era, criticized this approach, stating that immediate work authorization for migrants would “attract more illegal immigration.” She told the Daily Caller News Foundation, “They don’t care about getting asylum protection. They don’t care about getting some other document. I will say illegal aliens want five things: they want to enter the U.S., they want to stay here, they want to work here, they want to send money home and they want to bring family here.”
Moreover, Ries highlighted the skyrocketing numbers at the U.S.-Mexico border, which surged from about 99,000 encounters in June to more than 177,000 in August.
Notably, the Biden administration has increased its annual limit for asylum seekers to 522,000, up from 360,000, creating what Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) called a “concierge service” for migrants. The State of Texas has also filed a lawsuit against the CBP One app, claiming the government is “illegally pre-approving” foreign nationals to enter the country.
The system’s flaws are evident. Despite claims of a “closed border,” migrants have already found loopholes in the system that allow them to enter the U.S. without an appointment. The fine print allows for in-person interviews at the border if “language barriers, illiteracy or technical issues” prevent online completion.
New York and other major cities are also grappling with the aftermath. The Biden administration has pledged to assist New York, where approximately 100,000 migrants have arrived. While well-intended, this aid has the adverse effect of incentivizing more illegal migration, as Lora Ries pointed out: “It just encourages more illegal immigration.”
While the CBP One app may be seen as a humane approach to immigration, its implementation and lax border policies raise serious questions about national security and the rule of law. As Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) remarked, “Our open border is a national security crisis.”
