A hearing by a joint U.S. House subcommittee is set to take place on Thursday. The hearing will focus on the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ CBP One App and its use to mass-parole hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens into the United States.
The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security will hold a hearing, chaired by Reps. Clay Higgins of Louisiana and Dan Bishop of North Carolina. The hearing will be conducted by two subcommittees, Border Security and Enforcement, and Oversight, Investigations, and Accountability.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection introduced the CBP One App on Oct. 28, 2020, with the aim of streamlining the entry of commercial goods into the United States. In January 2023, Secretary Mayorkas repurposed the app, making further revisions in May and November of the same year. These updates included the provision of 1,000 daily appointments for foreign nationals seeking entry into the U.S.
Noncitizens in Central or Northern Mexico who wish to travel to the United States are advised to utilize the app to provide their information beforehand and arrange an appointment to present themselves at Southwest Border land ports of entry, as per CBP. The designated ports include Nogales, Arizona; Brownsville, Eagle Pass, Hidalgo, Laredo, and El Paso, Texas; as well as Calexico and San Ysidro, California.
Texas filed a lawsuit after the app was launched, alleging that the Biden Administration intentionally created this phone app to unlawfully approve more foreign aliens to enter the country and freely move around once they arrive. According to existing regulations, foreign nationals can be paroled or released into the country on a case-by-case and temporary basis, for significant public benefit or urgent humanitarian need. Texas and House Republicans claim that the app violates this law.
The House Homeland Security Committee identified the policy as one of the more than a dozen illegal actions that led to the impeachment of Mayorkas. Last month, he made history as the first cabinet secretary to be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors in the United States.
In a statement, Higgins and Bishop expressed their concerns over Secretary Mayorkas’ misuse of the CBP One app, which has resulted in the mass parole of hundreds of thousands of otherwise-inadmissible aliens at the Southwest border. They accused Secretary Mayorkas of disregarding the authority of a co-equal branch of government and using the smokescreen of lawful entry to grant parole without proper vetting. The lawmakers also highlighted their knowledge that the majority of individuals who make appointments through the app are released into the interior, indicating that Secretary Mayorkas has no intention of resolving the ongoing border crisis or addressing the underlying incentives that have contributed to it. They emphasized the importance of holding the administration accountable and obtaining more information about the open-borders scheme that the Department of Homeland Security has attempted to conceal from the American people.
According to Mayorkas, the application is expected to alleviate the issue of long queues at entry ports and illegal border crossings that occur between these ports. In both fiscal years 2023 and the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, there was a record-breaking influx of approximately 4 million foreign nationals entering the U.S. illegally, as reported by The Center Square.
From January 1, 2023, to January 31, 2024, a total of 459,118 foreign nationals were able to successfully schedule appointments to present at ports of entry using CBP One, according to CBP.
According to a report by The Center Square, around 45,000 foreign nationals were admitted into the country last month after scheduling appointments through the app.
According to CBS News, the app was used by illegal foreign nationals a staggering 64 million times to request entry into the United States. In a report last year, The Washington Examiner highlighted how cartels were taking advantage of the app’s functionality.
From January 12, 2023, to September 30, 2023, the House Homeland Security committee received documents from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which revealed that 95.8% of all inadmissible aliens who made appointments through the app were given a “Notice to Appear” and released into the United States on parole.
Mayorkas asserts that he has been granted the authority by Congress to implement policies, while those who have filed lawsuits against him and House Republicans who have impeached him argue otherwise. A federal judge in a recent district court ruling allowed Mayorkas’ parole programs to continue, stating that the states that had sued lacked standing.
In April of last year, the Border Reinforcement Act was introduced by the House Homeland Security Committee with the aim of limiting the usage of the app and returning it to its original purpose. This act was later included in HR 2, also known as the Secure the Border Act, which was successfully passed by the House. However, the Senate has yet to review and consider this bill.
The committee has announced that the hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. You can watch the livestream of the hearing on YouTube and the committee’s website.
