US expands area in Mexico for border asylum seekers, hoping to slow northward expansion

CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (AP) — Immediately after setting foot on Mexican soil, Venezuelan migrant Yuri Carolina Meléndez downloaded a U.S. government app to apply for asylum.

The CBP One app is already available, but starting Friday, migrants from Mexico’s southernmost states bordering Guatemala will be able to apply for nominations. Previously, they had to be in central or northern Mexico.

“I have to wait and see if this is really going to work,” the woman said as she rested under a tree with her 16- and 18-year-old daughters on the border highway leading to the city of Tapachula this week.

Mexico has been asking the U.S. to expand the app’s access south to ease pressure on migrants to continue north, at least to Mexico City. In recent years, the Mexican government has tried to keep migrants south, farther from the U.S. border, but a lack of job and housing opportunities in southern cities like Tapachula has pushed migrants north.

Mexico hopes that if migrants can wait for their visits to the south, they will not be at risk detained by the authorities without documents or by organized crime groups that prey on migrants traveling north. After making arrangements, they could theoretically travel freely.

Germin Alemán, a 31-year-old from Honduras traveling with his wife and three children, planned to register as soon as they reached Tapachula. “We’ll apply here, wait for the meeting,” he said as they walked from the border toward Tapachula.

Others, however, still felt pressure to move further north. Many migrants often have large debts and need to start paying them off as quickly as possible. Meléndez, for one, said she plans to continue moving to improve her chances of finding work.

CBP One has proven to be one of the most effective measures in the United States’ efforts to manage the growing demand for asylum at the U.S. southwest border.

In fiscal year 2023, U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 2.4 million encounters with migrants along the U.S. southwest border.

Since the app launched in January 2023, more than 765,000 people have booked appointments to apply for asylum. Immigration has become a central issue in the US presidential election.

When Biden administration temporarily suspends asylum process for those who crossed the border illegally in June, the app became one of the few ways to apply for asylum. The U.S. is handling 1,500 visits a day.

The number of migrants crossing the US border illegally has dropped significantly since peaking in December 2023.Washington attributes much of the decline to Mexico’s enforcement efforts, which include catching migrants in the north and sending them back south.

Still, Mexico welcomes the expansion of CBP One.

“This will help us a lot,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alicia Bárcena said earlier this month as she announced the enlargement was underway. Immigration is a key issue in the two countries’ relationship.

But dozens of non-governmental organizations that defend migrants’ and human rights have little to celebrate.

An open letter to the Mexican government on Thursday called CBP One a “violation of international law” because it allows the United States to restrict access to its territory for people in need of protection.

The groups argued that many migrants have been stuck in Mexico for months, waiting in full shelters or camping in unsanitary conditions. While waiting, they are vulnerable to kidnapping, sexual assault, torture and extortion by criminals and authorities, they said.

In theory, Mexico’s National Immigration Institute allows migrants with CBP One visas to travel freely to the U.S. border, but the organizations say authorities still sometimes detain migrants and send them back south to prevent them from crossing.

The institute did not respond to a request for comment on the allegations.

In southern Mexico, migrants have always been targeted by smugglers and criminals, but the region has been relatively peaceful for the rest of the population. Now, that’s changed. The southern border region is embroiled in a territorial battle between Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels, which seek to control the trafficking routes for drugs, weapons and migrants. Violence is part of everyday life in many border towns.

Among migrants waiting in the central plaza of Ciudad Hidalgo, near the Suchiate River that divides Mexico and Guatemala, the question remains whether to wait or continue north.

As the group of migrants debated the answer, the factor that had the most influence was money. Migrants heard that the chances of finding work were better in central and northern Mexico, and money was needed for what could be months of waiting for an appointment.

“If there are job opportunities, we will stay; if not, we will continue to work our way up until they hire us,” said Yuleidi Banqué, a 28-year-old Venezuelan who had just arrived in Mexico with her partner and 7-year-old daughter.

“My daughter is not feeling well … she is fed through a tube. We need help,” Banqué said.

The United Nations Refugee Agency is taking a cautious approach to expanding CBP One.

Giovanni Lepri, head of the Mexican office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that could mean less risk for migrants heading north. But he added that dealing with migration requires different measures, “such as stabilization of countries of origin, protection in transit countries and options for legalization and asylum in destination countries.”

Noemí Ramírez, a 47-year-old from El Salvador, learned that she could apply for asylum in the Mexican state of Chiapas and immediately traveled to Tapachula with her 19-year-old daughter.

“We’ll wait until we get a date. I’m not thinking about going any further,” she said as they walked, worried about the violence they might face along the way. “I’m not taking any chances with my daughter. We’re alone.”

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Verza reported from Mexico.