An app released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) coincided with a significant increase in migrants entering the nation using the program over the last two months, leading to increased concern about the White House’s commitment to border security.
The CPB One app was called “safe, orderly and humane” by the federal government. Still, many Republicans in Congress believe that it is instead allowing an increased flow of illegal immigrants at the border.
This has resulted in about a 50% increase in migrants allowed over the border using the app compared to May.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Mark Green (R-TN) told Fox News that the “numbers aren’t going down. That’s a shell game for [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro] Mayorkas.”
“So, a person comes to the border, they’re telling them to voluntarily return to Mexico, fill out the app and then come in,” he said.
Green said this resulted in “parole into the United States against the Immigration and Naturalization Act.”
Last week, Republicans on the House Oversight Committee set a two-week deadline for Mayorkas and the Biden administration to turn over records regarding the number of migrants who entered into the country using the app.
The committee’s Republicans sent a letter to Mayorkas requesting the information by July 7. According to the letter, the actions by the Biden administration represented a “flagrant abuse” of the nation’s immigration parole statute.
The representatives said that the White House had “paroled over a million inadmissible aliens into the United States in just over two years.”
Furthermore, the House members cited reports that found that “99% of inadmissible aliens who applied for an appointment through the CBP One app were ultimately approved for parole.”
“Illegal aliens given unlawful categorical parole through these programs will likely live in the United States for years before they are issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) in immigration court given the massive scheduling backlogs at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) offices,” the letter read.
Republicans expressed significant concern over the other effects of the migrant wave.
In particular, federal officials seized almost two million fentanyl pills in late June. CPB announced the seizure of almost 700,000 fentanyl pills and a considerable amount of methamphetamine during two drug seizures in Nogales, Arizona.
The CBP seized more than 9,000 pounds of fentanyl between October of last year and the end of May 2023.
CBP officers at the Nogales POE stopped two loads this weekend. On Friday, officers took down approx. 457,000 fentanyl pills and 2.13 lbs meth concealed throughout a vehicle. On Saturday, officers seized another 45.5 lbs meth and approx. 214,000 fentanyl pills hidden in a truck. pic.twitter.com/J1iArKGELE
— Port Director Michael W. Humphries (@CBPPortDirNOG) June 26, 2023
