A viral TikTok video has unveiled what seems to be a serious bug in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) smartphone app for asylum applications at the southern border. This video, which first came out by Blaze News, illustrates the brevity with which users may falsify information while seeking asylum through the app, which leads to some worrying questions about the safety and transparency of the asylum process.
This video, uploaded by a TikTok user claiming to be “regular guy” from Michigan, shows how little information is needed to create an account and file for asylum using the CBP OneTM app. The author used fabricated biographical information (false name, birth country and citizenship), and even uploaded a picture of comedian Carlos Mencia to the application.
What Is the CBP OneTM App?
The CBP OneTM app, which is touted by the CBP website as part of a “wider effort to secure our nation’s borders” will simplify applications for people wishing to travel legally, trade or obtain asylum. The app consists of a series of questions for navigation to services accordingly.
However, the new TikTok video alleges that the app fails to check whether the applicant is actually who he claims to be. Users are asked to enter simple biographical data, which TikToker did with completely artificial information. The app doesn’t ask for any documentation or ID for this first step, so we’re concerned with how easily we can send false information.
Phishing Information is Easily Postable.
In the video, the user registered with the app’s form as “Jesus Gonzalez” – whom he claimed to be born in Mexico but gave his citizenship as Haiti and place of residence as American Samoa. He chose “unknown” as his sex, uploaded an unrelated Google image, and didn’t take a passport (which is not required on the app). The address he typed was “California”, using a zip code he saw on Google Maps.
‘OK, that’s it, I’m ready to go,’ says the inventor of TikTok, who also noted that the app provided him with several bridges on which he could meet to process his transaction, such as the widely discussed Eagle Pass Bridge.
The Eagle Pass bridges, including Camino Real International Bridge 2, have been the focus of media coverage of thousands of migrants in detention. The CBP One app aims to minimize in-person processing time while maintaining security. Yet the viral clip has caused anger by the mere lack of evidence reportedly necessary before an asylum appointment could be made.
Internet Dismay and Political Response
The video, posted to the FollowForLaughs TikTok account, instantly went viral, with fans wringing their hands in amazement and rage at the TikToker account’s ease of fabricating an asylum application. The creator estimated that the whole process took five minutes and reported no attempt to cross-check the data he provided “I said I have no documentation…. You can never confirm me with the person I say I am…. “They simply base on the photo I upload,” he said in the video.
This has served as more fuel to the immigration policy firestorm, which was heightened when Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the vice presidential nominee, criticized the app at a recent debate. It wasn’t long before people took to the video to confirm Vance’s testimony, one of them saying “OK, so Vance was yelling the truth,” in reference to his attack on the app’s security.
It also drew controversy because the app was created in 2023 (the contrary of claims by Democratic politicians it was a much older system). And they built it in 2023, not 1990 like Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Walz says,” added one user.
Reposting the video on X (previously Twitter) also provoked a response with one commenter urging the U.S. to identify homeless people as asylum seekers so that they could access services offered to migrants – “Wait so people round up the homeless population and register them as illegal aliens so that the government will provide them with food, housing, and employment?” the commenter joked.
CBP Reaction and Comments
With this viral video, criticism of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its operations regarding the asylum process has started to grow. Proponents say the app’s lax security measures would allow individuals to make fraudulent claims without proper verification, thus jeopardizing national security.
CBP advertises the app as a professional, safe tool to streamline the process of applying for asylum, but that TikTok video suggests otherwise. With the app seemingly asking only for a photo and some simple information to make an appointment for asylum, critics have questioned the overall efficacy of the app in thwarting bogus claims.
Though the CBP OneTM app was supposed to shorten processing time and streamline operations at the border, this new information is another source of controversy surrounding immigration policies and the safety of U.S. borders. And we’ll see if the viral video affects how the app is used at all or if additional security is introduced after.
To hear more on this unfolding story, visit Blaze News here.
