The Biden administration announced that online asylum appointments at the international crossing in Laredo, Texas, have been suspended due to the “security situation” in the Mexican city of Nuevo Laredo, located across the border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement emailed to The Associated Press that the government also took into account other unspecified “operational factors,” including the relatively low demand for appointments at that location.
The government statement was issued one day after AP reported on the change, which took effect on June 3 at the Laredo port of entry. Humanitarian groups in Laredo had recently warned the administration, both during in-person meetings and through Zoom, about individuals controlling access to the port of entry on the Mexican side and about migrants who reported being extorted after arriving in Nuevo Laredo.
Asylum seekers interviewed by AP said that Mexican immigration officials in Nuevo Laredo confiscated their travel documents and threatened to cancel their scheduled asylum appointments if they did not pay.
Nuevo Laredo is located in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, which the U.S. Department of State has advised U.S. citizens to avoid. Tamaulipas, which borders the southernmost part of Texas, is a key area for the Northeast Cartel, formerly known as the Gulf Cartel.
CBP did not provide details about the security situation in Nuevo Laredo or how it differs from conditions in other Mexican border cities, including Tijuana, whose mayor decided this month to seek refuge at a military base for security reasons.
Tijuana, located across the border from San Diego, has one of the highest homicide rates in Mexico and is one of the primary ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border for asylum applications through the CBP One app. The Mexican president reported that both the mayor and the governor of the state of Baja California, where Tijuana is located, have received threats from organized crime.
Thousands of asylum seekers are stranded in Mexican border cities, waiting for an appointment to seek refuge in the United States after being blocked during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a public health restriction known as Title 42. That restriction was lifted last month.
Although the government has opened some new pathways for immigration, the fate of many people is in the hands of the CBP One app, which is used to schedule appointments at ports of entry.
The government announced that it would continue offering 1,250 appointments per day by reallocating Laredo’s appointment slots to the other seven crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border. It also committed to honoring online appointments issued for the Laredo crossing before the change implemented on June 3. The government schedules appointments two weeks in advance.
CBP gives priority to people with scheduled appointments, although it is also possible to attempt to enter in person without an appointment. People who have a serious illness or are under an immediate threat of kidnapping or death may also request to enter in person.
Laredo accounted for only a small portion of appointments compared with San Diego and Brownsville, Texas.
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