The Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) said the government restarted the asylum appointments at Mexican border towns after the officials suspended drug syndicates were extorting migrants.

Asylum appointments will restart at Mexico Border despite Extortion scheme threat

The problem started after 1,500 asylum appointers flocked to Mexico’s Nuevo Laredo in the past days, sleeping at the international bridge, after word spread that the government had begun to receive migrants here without asylum appointments.

CBP officials urged migrants to use CBP App since pandemic restrictions called Title 42 expired in May, and will start offering asylum appointments again beginning last Wednesday.

The U.S. CBP had shut down the asylum appointments system in Texas City when U.S. officials learned criminals were compelling migrants to pay $500 to reach the bridge to attend their schedules.

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Using CBP One App is the best way we have to lessen some of the vulnerabilities

CBP One is a tool to cut out smugglers, but it will limit the number of asylum appointments that will put migrants at risk.

The estimated extortion scheme had caught the local drug cartel thousands of dollars in a month.

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