More Haitians locked out of CBP One app turn to Mexico for asylum 

By Annika Hom 
MEXICO CITY— Outside Mexico City’s Mexican Commission for Refugee Assistance  (COMAR) office, Davidson Johnny balances a stack of black face masks and plastic sheet protectors, calling out to potential buyers. “Cubrebocas, cubrebocas!” he shouts in Spanish for “Masks, masks!”

Selling masks on the street was never part of Johnny’s plan when he left Port-de-Paix, the main city of Haiti’s Northwest Department, about 140 miles north of Port-au-Prince, last fall. Like thousands of other Haitians, he had headed to Mexico hoping to enter the U.S. legally using the CBP One app, which during the Biden administration allowed migrants to schedule refugee and asylum appointments with U.S. immigration officials.

But when President Donald Trump shut down the app on his first day back in office, many Haitians were left stranded throughout Mexico, with few options but to seek asylum in Mexico.

“It hurt me because my goal was the U.S.,” Johnny, 35,  a married father of two, told The Haitian Times. 

“But I can’t return to Haiti—it’s unsafe,” said Johnny, who chose to be referred to by his first name for privacy reasons.

“Before the election, Trump promised Americans he was going to get rid of all the immigrants, so I prepared for whatever would happen.”

Frantzy, a 23-year-old Haitian immigrant seeking asylum in Mexico

Gangs expelled him from his home, forcing him to leave his wife and children behind. He hopes to bring them to Mexico, but due to a lack of funds, they remain in Haiti, where they are “in danger.” 

Living alone, Johnny rents an apartment in Tláhuac, Mexico City, an area locals call “Little Haiti” due to the growing Haitian community there. He earns about 500 pesos or $30 a day selling masks outside the COMAR office, a necessity for asylum applicants who must wear them inside.

“I just want to bring my wife and kids here,” he said. “They’re still in Haiti, and they’re in danger.”

Haitian asylum cases rising in Mexico—but so are rejections

Since the CBP One shutdown, asylum applications at Mexico’s refugee agency (COMAR) have surged, especially among Haitians, Venezuelans and Hondurans.

“We have seen a significant increase in asylum seekers,” said Paulina Dávila Cessa, communications coordinator at Asylum Access México, an international refugee legal aid group.

Haitians alone accounted for one-third of the asylum cases handled by her organization.

While official 2025 asylum data isn’t available yet, a report shows that in 2024, 79,000 asylum seekers applied in Mexico—including 10,853 Haitians, the third-highest nationality after Venezuelans and Hondurans, according to COMAR.

But getting asylum approval in Mexico is far from guaranteed.

Between 2013 and 2024, Haitians had the lowest asylum approval rate among major nationalities. Of 23,477 Haitian applicants, 62% were denied, a stark contrast to the higher approval rates for Venezuelans, Hondurans and Salvadorans.

“In Tapachula, many Haitians request asylum, but they are getting denied,” said Lucía Samayoa Aparicio, base manager at Doctors Without Borders in Tapachula, near the Mexico-Guatemala border.

For many, Mexico was always Plan B

Unlike Johnny, Frantzy, 23, who chose to be referred to by just his first name for safety reasons, had already begun his asylum process in September 2024. He anticipated stricter U.S. immigration policies under Trump.

“Before the election, Trump promised Americans he was going to get rid of all the immigrants,” he said. “So I prepared for whatever would happen.”

His asylum interview took place on Jan. 31, 2025. Under Mexican asylum law, COMAR has 45 days to issue a decision, though cases often extend beyond 100 days due to backlogs.

Frantzy fears returning to his hometown of Petite-Rivière de l’Artibonite, an area in the lower Artibonite Department where a gang massacre killed over 20 people last December and a Kenyan police officer from the Multinational Security Support Mission (MSS) was killed there on Feb. 23.  

“In Tapachula, many Haitians request asylum, but they are getting denied.”

Lucía Samayoa Aparicio, Base Manager of Doctors Without Borders 

“Things in Haiti are bad,” he said. “I’m looking for refuge here.”

Despite dreaming of Florida and already starting to learn English, Frantzy sees Mexico as a viable option now.

“They have good organizations here that help immigrants,” Frantz told The Haitian Times. “[And] I’m getting used to the spicy food,” he said sarcastically.

A complicated asylum process

For some, asylum applications hit bureaucratic roadblocks.

Berly Alexandre, 29, started his process in Tenosique, Tabasco, last November, only for COMAR to later claim his case was abandoned.

“This is a lie,” Alexandre said. “I’m still interested in asylum, but they said my case was closed.”

COMAR often deems cases “abandoned” if applicants move to other states or regions without approval or fail to confirm their ongoing interest periodically.

Originally from Port-au-Prince, Alexandre first immigrated to Brazil in 2024 but struggled to integrate due to the language barrier. He later traveled through South America and eventually crossed the Darién Gap, a dangerous jungle route between Colombia and Panama, before reaching Mexico.

“The United States has a lot of opportunities, but so do many other countries.”

Berly Alexandre, a 29-year-old Haitian migrant seeking asylum in Mexico 

Immigration experts noted that in 2024, Tapachula handled nearly 64% of Mexico’s asylum applications, yet Haitian rejection rates remain the highest. Nonetheless, many Haitians obtain complementary protection (PC, per its Spanish acronym), which safeguards beneficiaries against deportation and provides a pathway to permanent residency in Mexico. However,  the PC offers fewer benefits than the Mexican refugee program. 

COMAR has not yet responded to The Haitian Times’ request for comment on why Haitians have the lowest asylum approval rate. However, some experts suggest Mexico may grant other countries a lower threshold to apply and that some Haitians may have been denied if they had already been living in another country other than Haiti when applying.

“Some Haitians were denied asylum if they had previously lived in another country before applying in Mexico,” said Aparicio, noting Mexico’s inconsistent asylum criteria.

Denials complicate options for Haitians who may not want to return to their country due to “instability” or wish to migrate to the neighboring Dominican Republic, as tensions periodically flare between the two countries, Aparicio said. 

A fresh start in Mexico?

Despite the uncertainty, Alexandre, like many others, is optimistic.

His friends have studied in Mexico, and if granted asylum, he hopes to pursue a master’s degree in architecture.

“They have good education here,” he said. “Brazil does, too, but I couldn’t understand Portuguese.”

For now, he relies on financial support from his parents, who live in France, while waiting for legal work authorization documents.

“CBP One app ending isn’t the end of the world,” Alexandre said. “There’s always another way. The United States has a lot of opportunities, but so do many other countries.”

The post More Haitians locked out of CBP One app turn to Mexico for asylum  appeared first on The Haitian Times.

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More Haitians locked out of CBP One app turn to Mexico for asylum  was first posted on March 11, 2025 at 10:02 pm.