Metering (or “queue management”) is when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) limits the number of individuals who are permitted to access the asylum process each day at ports of entry across the border. According to the American Immigration Council, metering was used as early as February 2016, primarily at the San Ysidro port of entry south of San Diego. Metering is one of many tactics used by CBP officers to block asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border in a general practice known as “asylum turnbacks.” In most locations, these asylum seekers must place themselves on a “list” maintained by a person or group on the Mexican side of the border. Each day, CBP contacts the person or entity in charge of the list and informs them of how many people can be admitted and processed in order to request asylum. At some ports of entry, multiple days pass with no people called off the list.
Updates tracking the metering waitlists across the U.S.-Mexico border can be found here.