The Centers for Immigration Studies recently uncovered a plan by the Biden administration to bypass all border patrol security measures in an effort to expedite the arrival of more than 220,000 illegal immigrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Columbia. The plan allows for immigrants to use the Customs and Border Patrol One app to pre-arrange immigration into the U.S. and bypass CBP and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoints.
The plan was only revealed to the public after a partly redacted document was acquired by CIS through a Freedom of Information Act request that detailed the process. CIS was able to verify thousands of individuals had already been granted access to the U.S. using the program between October 2022 and August 2023. The documents provided to CIS did not include the location of airfields used in the program, though it mentions at least 43 individual fields as destinations. Many of the numerous immigrants were flown to just two airfields in large numbers.
The CBP One app has been a primary tool used by the Biden administration to obscure the actual number of illegal immigrants being granted access to the U.S. over the last three years. Beginning in mid-2021, the administration began issuing “parole” to immigrants who used the CBP One app to arrange entry to the U.S. This program was only announced to the public in October 2022. Efforts by Congress to examine the program have so far been thwarted, including at least one Congressional investigation that was shut down by Troy A. Miller, a senior official performing the duties of the Commissioner with CBP.
Partial data on the program, just obtained by the Center for immigration Studies pursuant to a FOIA request, reveals that more than 200,000 people from four countries have used this direct-flight and parole program over the past year.https://t.co/fX9azokEcy
— Center for Immigration Studies (@CIS_org) September 21, 2023
In a letter dated August 22, 2023, Miller responded to an inquiry regarding concerns over the way the app was being used to properly vet incoming immigrants. Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-WI) had requested information on the program in a letter dated March 24. CBP offered a vague response to the request while offering assurances that the program expedited the process and prevented human smuggling and terrorism.
Officials with CBP claim that “advanced biographic and biometric” data collected through the app is used to prevent illegal immigrants who are already barred from entry to the U.S. from accessing the program, but also states that the program is not intended for the purpose of vetting immigrants, which is the responsibility of CBP and TSA agents at the ports of entry, including airports.
The report from CIS on the previously undisclosed flights is just the latest in a string of new information that shows tactics used by the Biden administration to artificially deflate the numbers of immigrants entering the country. Currently, only illegal immigrants captured at the border by CBP are reported, numbers which are jarring on their own. In one day last week, nearly 3,000 immigrants crossed at Eagle Pass, Texas. CBP is reporting as many as 10,000 contacts daily with illegal immigrants seeking to enter the U.S.
