Civil Rights Groups Sue Customs and Border Protection for Disability Rights Compliance Records Pertaining to CBP One

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 8, 2024

Contact: TCRP, media@texascivilrightsproject.org

CREEC, lmurchie@creeclaw.org

(Los Angeles, CA) - Al Otro Lado and The Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center (CREEC), on behalf of The Texas Civil Rights Project (TCRP), have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to compel the government to release information on its policies and practices relating to CBP One and its adherence to laws preventing discrimination on the basis of disability. The original FOIA request was filed by Al Otro Lado, CREEC, TCRP and The Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights. 

For over a year now, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has forced asylum seekers to make appointments through the CBP One application in order to present themselves at a port of entry to enter the U.S. and request asylum. This error-ridden smartphone application, fraught with malfunctions and inaccessible features, has become an insurmountable barrier for countless individuals, particularly those with disabilities. Getting an appointment can take up to seven months, leaving vulnerable asylum seekers trapped in some of the most dangerous cities in the world. Moreover, CBP One requires a high level of technological proficiency to install and use.

For people with disabilities that prevent them from using the app, requesting an appointment on their own through CBP One is practically impossible, effectively barring them from asylum. Al Otro Lado has worked with clients with schizophrenia, blindness, deafness, cerebral palsy, and intellectual and developmental disabilities because their disability prevented them from successfully using the app.

Al Otro Lado, CREEC, and TCRP’s lawsuit against CBP is a pivotal action to safeguard the rights of people with disabilities and to ensure government accountability and transparency. The right to save one’s life shouldn’t depend on a glitchy app or one’s physical or mental capabilities. 

“It is time for CBP to be transparent and to release documents regarding their compliance, or lack thereof, with federal disability law. It’s also crucial that we review any existing CBP One accessibility policies to ensure that CBP is not discriminating against people with disabilities and to identify areas for further advocacy on behalf of this population,” said Kassandra Gonzalez (she/her), Staff Attorney, Beyond Borders Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project. “By requiring the scheduling of immigration processing appointments through the CBP One App to maintain asylum eligibility, CBP has created yet another barrier to entry. The federal government has a responsibility to ensure that its technology is accessible to people with disabilities.”

“Every time that CBP forces NGOs to bring a lawsuit to access information which, under federal law, should be publicly available, it's nothing short of a complete waste of taxpayer resources. There should be no mystery surrounding whether CBP is compliant with federal disability law in how it processes asylum seekers with disabilities,” said Nicole Elizabeth Ramos (she/her), Al Otro Lado’s Border Rights Project Director. “We urge the court to order CBP to release these records immediately. Because, as history has shown, CBP cares little whether asylum seekers live or die, and these records are critical to our work in protecting the rights of asylum seekers who are among the most vulnerable, which includes, asylum seekers with disabilities.” 

“Despite federal disability law requiring the CBP One app to be accessible, we have and continue to see migrants with disabilities facing unlawful discrimination and unequal access to the asylum process due to the inaccessibility of the app,” said Laura Murchie (she/her), Staff Attorney at The Civil Rights and Education Enforcement Center. “CBP needs to release these documents so we can advocate for and ensure compliance with the law so asylum-seekers with disabilities do not continue to be harmed by CBP’s disregard for rights that are guaranteed by federal disability law.”

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