A viral TikTok video showed just how easy it is to use fake information while seeking asylum at the southern border.
An American man, purportedly from Michigan, provided no authentic information while using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection phone app.
'All they do is go off of the picture I submit.'
The CBP One app is a mobile application that serves as a portal to government services for illegal immigrants and asylum-seekers.
"Through a series of guided questions, the app directs each type of user to the appropriate services based on their needs," CBP says on its website. "As part of CBP's comprehensive effort to improve the security of our nation's borders while enhancing legitimate travel and trade, CBP One™ provides increased accessibility and transparency to some of CBP's most utilized services."
The official description makes the phone app sound professional and secure. The reality, however, as alleged in recent social media posts, is that the Department of Homeland Security makes almost no effort to establish a person's identity before the person is allowed to make an appointment in hopes of being granted asylum.
A recent TikTok video that has circulated online shows just how little information is required in the app.
"Once you create an account, on the main page you just have to choose if you're the smuggler or the smuglee," the video creator joked.
The first page opens with the following options for the user to self-describe:
Users are then prompted to fill out their "biographical information," which the content creator filled out with fake information. The name "Jesus Gonzalez" was used, with the country of birth entered as Mexico. He also entered his country of citizenship as Haiti and country of residence as American Samoa.
The user then selected his gender as "unknown."
At this point, the user is asked to provide a photo, for which he used a Google image of comedian Carlos Mencia; scanning a passport was listed as "optional."
The app then asks where the user is traveling to; the fake applicant left the address and city as "unknown" and simply entered "California" with a zip code of "90001."
He admitted that the zip code was the first option provided by Google maps.
"And that's it, I'm good to go," the voice-over stated. "It does let you choose between like eight different bridges to meet under; I chose the Eagle Pass bridge."
The bridge listed on the app was Camino Real International Bridge 2. The Eagle Pass bridges have been hot spots for media coverage, showing thousands of migrants being gathered and cordoned off while they wait for processing. The CBP One app is meant to streamline this process and reduce the poor optics without lessening the number of applicants
The viral video was posted on the "FollowForLaughs" TikTok page and hosted by a man who said he was a "regular guy" from Michigan. He estimated that it took just five minutes to apply for asylum and get an appointment.
"I said I have no documentation. ... There is no way to cross-check who I say I am. ... All they do is go off of the picture I submit."
Viewers were both angry at the results and thankful that vice presidential candidate JD Vance exposed the app during a recent debate.
"OK, so Vance was yelling the truth," one TikTok user wrote.
"And it was created in 2023 not 1990 like Walz said," another replied.
"So Vance had to push to get us this information and it's true," a viewer also said.
In a repost of the video on X, a user suggested that America's homeless should simply register at the border to reap the benefits that illegal immigrants appear to receive.
"Wait so should people round up the homeless populations and register them as illegal aliens so that the government will provide them with food[,] housing[,] and jobs?"