HOUSTON – The U.S. Customs and Border Protection rolled out a new app this week called CBP Home encouraging illegal migrants to self deport using an ‘intent to depart’ function.
The app is a repurposed version of CBP One, which under the Biden Administration, allowed migrants to apply to enter the U.S. legally as asylum seekers.
This self-deportation functionality is part of a $200 million ad campaign to encourage undocumented immigrants to “Stay Out and Leave,” according to the Department of Homeland Security.
“The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream,” said Secretary Kristi Noem. ”If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return.”
But Cesar Espinoza, the executive director of FIEL, questions how the app could work. FIEL is an immigrant-led civil rights organization based in Houston.
“There are laws in place that if you if you have an ‘unlawful’ status and you depart the country, even if it’s voluntary, you still get barred from coming back,” said Espinoza.
Espinoza is talking about the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act or IIRIRA. The law states illegal immigrants who are in the U.S. past 180 days but under 365 days must stay outside of the U.S. for at least three years. If they remain past 365 days, they must stay outside for at least 10 years.
DHS states “self-deportation is the safest option for illegal aliens, while preserving law enforcement resources.”
“There’s been a gamut of emotions,” said Espinosa, when speaking about how the undocumented community in Harris County is reacting. “Many people call us crying. A lot of people are nervous and panic because of the things that they hear on social media.”
According to the Migrant Policy Institute, there are an estimated half a million undocumented immigrants in Harris County.
Several Houston area state lawmakers have filed bills this legislative session targeting illegal immigration, including Senate Bill 8 and Senate Bill 825.
Nearly one million people applied for asylum interviews using the original CBP One app. Now, those appointments have been canceled.