Some immigrants in Eastern Washington lost legal status this week after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that it ended protections for people who had legally entered the U.S. through an official online immigration appointment app.
Migrants used the federal government’s CBP One app to schedule an appointment at a port of entry and begin the process of legal immigration.
In the past two years, more than 935,000 immigrants were legally allowed into the country to live and work using the app system.
“The heartbreaking thing here is that (they did) what they said and they went through the whole process,” Tri-Cities immigration attorney Héctor Quiroga told the Tri-City Herald this week.
When a migrant met for their appointment, immigration officials decided whether or not to grant them permission to temporarily enter and stay in the U.S., also called parole.
With that status, immigrants were allowed to legally remain in the U.S. for two years and apply for a work permit.
In the Tri-Cities region, many work on farms, build homes, repair equipment and work in the service industry.
Quiroga said his law offices in Kennewick and Wenatchee serve as many as 10 clients who used the CBP One app and now live and work in Eastern Washington.
Some of them are now receiving notifications or emails telling them to leave the U.S. immediately.
The Associated Press reported recently on a Department of Homeland Security email to a Honduran family that entered the U.S. at the end of last year. “It’s time for you to abandon the United States,” it said.
Now many families are in limbo because the future of their immigration status is in question.
Worker status stripped
The purpose of the CBP One app under the Biden administration was to organize a legal pathway at ports of entry on the U.S.-Mexico border and reduce the number of migrants crossing the border unlawfully.
Although geared to nationalities such as Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, Mexicans and citizens of other countries could participate.
Quiroga said Mexican immigrants make up 95% of clients at the Quiroga Law Office locations in Southeastern Washington. Most are migrant farm workers.
He said their staff is working with the immigrants who’ve had their status revoked to help them find legal avenues for them to remain living and working in the U.S.
It’s possible that they already have a work permit, are in the asylum process, have filed an adjustment of status or have children who are U.S. citizens.
CBP One process
Quiroga said that from the beginning, it was difficult for migrants to secure immigration appointments through the app.
The number of appointments were capped, and they often weren’t available for six to eight months, sometimes longer. Migrants were instructed to wait outside of the U.S. until their appointment date.
President Donald Trump, on his first day in office this year, signed an executive order to end the app. It’s since been renamed CBP Home.
As federal immigration policies continue to change, Quiroga is looking ahead.
“You’ve got all of these individuals who on a one-by-one basis were granted the benefit, and now we have one sweeping (motion) disallowing the benefit,” Quiroga said. “That’s the challenge that (the Trump administration is) probably going to be facing in the courts.”
“It takes some time for the courts to review and for the (decisions) to trickle down. When the dust settles, we’re going to know what policies are going to stick,” he said.
