-It's 7:56 a.m.
At 8 a.m. we start submitting the application.
We hope in God that I get asylum.
-Vladimir Cortés is among the thousands of migrants
at crowded camps across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Today he's hoping to get one
of the roughly 700 to 800 time slots that open every day
through a mobile app called CBP One,
a new method for anyone seeking asylum in the U.S.
-Run, run, run!
-All appointments are filled within minutes,
and not getting one could mean additional days
or weeks of waiting.
-It's about being lucky.
Because if it [the app] asks for a photo,
it sends us information.
And if we can send it, we might be able to get an appointment.
-Even for digitally savvy migrants,
the experience has been a challenge.
-It doesn't want to scan.
It doesn't want to scan his face.
-They say the app has glitches,
and some even claim the facial-recognition feature
malfunctions for those with darker skin.
-I get up to the option to scan my face
but it asks to get closer and closer,
but it doesn't do anything.
And that's the problem -- that it takes a long time [to load]
and that's where it fails.
So we try it again.
-The CBP One app is part of President Biden's plan
to provide more options for legal immigration.
-If they're seeking asylum,
they can use an app on their cellphone
called CBP One -- O-N-E.
CBP One -- O-N-E.
-But on the ground,
advocates say the app is not running smoothly.
-Most of the families don't know how to use the app.
The Haitian community, it's not scanning their face.
Also, if it's more than three people,
it's harder to get an appointment,
so that's why families are facing --
were facing with this problem, you know,
just adding myself and my husband or me -- only myself,
and there's just so many problems going on right now.
-The app is currently being used
to coordinate the entry of up to 30,000 migrants
from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela
that are asking for an exemption
to pandemic-era border restrictions.
-If I'm looking for protection in the U.S.
it is because it's the only country in the entire world
that offers me protection.
-Can I count on everyone behaving well?
-Immigrant advocates say migrants who come alone,
have the financial means, and are tech-savvy
have better luck navigating the system
to enter the U.S. legally.
But those with families say the new system
is making them consider separation
to get one of the coveted appointments.
Others, like Valentina, had her appointment squandered
after officials told her she couldn't bring her child
because she didn't have an appointment of her own.
-The three of us went [to a port of entry] and when we got there,
we were asked who had an appointment.
My partner and I had appointments.
Then they told us my son had to stay behind.
And I said, "How can he stay behind?"
and they said, "Yes, he stays behind
because he doesn't have an appointment."
-In the next few weeks, the app will become indispensable
in the asylum process.
A new rule, which takes effect in May,
will penalize asylum seekers who cross into the U.S. illegally
or do not apply for the protection through the app
before arriving at the southern border.
For Liliana Carlos,
who runs a nonprofit to help migrant children,
desperation and trauma within the camps is growing.
-Here at the school, we see cases of children
with aggression, depression,
children who no longer want to live.
-A Biden official told "The Post" in February
that the app's error messages
are because the slots on that day were filled.
They've addressed concerns
like adding Haitian Creole to its available languages.
They deny that the app does not recognize darker complexions.
While Biden's new border strategy
faces technological and legal challenges,
thousands of migrants in camps are still hoping
to get what could be the biggest appointment of their lives.
-If we can't get an appointment through CBP One, we'll stay put.
We cannot go back to Venezuela.
We go back to Venezuela and we're dead.
I don't feel safe. I'm fearful, scared.
I don't want to go back at all to Venezuela.
I need to be in a safe country like the U.S.