Al Otro Lado and Haitian Bridge Alliance v. Noem

This lawsuit challenges the Biden administration’s policy and widespread practice of requiring asylum seekers at the southwest border to make an advance appointment via the government’s CBP One smartphone app in order to seek asylum at a port of entry (POE).

On May 12, 2023, the Biden administration promulgated a rule that established a sweeping ban on asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. As a practical matter, most asylum seekers at the southern border can avoid the ban only by scheduling a CBP One appointment at a POE. Though the rule was recently struck down as unlawful, it remains in effect as that case makes its way through the courts. The government has given no indication that it will change its policy of turning back asylum seekers who do not have a CBP One appointment, regardless of whether the rule remains in effect.

The lawsuit charges that, since its inception, the CBP One app has been inaccessible to the most vulnerable and marginalized people seeking safety at the U.S.-Mexico border. Only those who are literate in one of the few languages the app supports and have a relatively new smartphone, a reliable internet connection, and electricity are able to successfully navigate the app.

Under the government’s new turnback policy, individuals who cannot secure a CBP One appointment are unlawfully turned away and denied the opportunity to access the U.S. asylum process altogether, leaving them to languish in encampments and shelters in Mexican border cities where their racial and migrant identities leave them vulnerable to predation and violence.

This lawsuit argues that the government’s policy of turning back asylum seekers who do not have a CBP One appointment violates U.S. law, the government’s own guidance, asylum seekers’ due process rights, and the United States’ obligations under international law, which prohibit the government from returning refugees to countries where they face persecution or torture.