John Oliver Drags Biden’s Immigration App: Nothing ‘More on Brand’ for US Than App That Says ‘Not White Enough’ (Video)
Earlier this year, the Biden administration created an app for migrants and asylum seekers to use in order secure an appointment at a designated U.S. port of entry. But, after several reports of the app being glitchy and hard to access, John Oliver gave it a thorough roasting on Sunday night’s episode of “Last Week Tonight” on HBO.
The app was designed for those who are seeking exemptions from Title 42, a Trump-era immigration policy that severely restricts who qualifies for asylum in the United States. But, first and foremost, Oliver honed in on just the design of the app’s icon, which features, as the “Last Week Tonight” host referred to it, “a border patrol agent with a raging boner.”
Oliver then pulled up footage from a “60 Minutes” segment, which spoke to women who try to secure an appointment on the app every morning, only for it to freeze or glitch, and the appointments to be entirely taken within five minutes. As one woman referred to it, “it’s lottery with people’s lives.”
“We use apps for many purposes, but reserving an appointment to try and secure the safety of your family probably shouldn’t be one of them,” Oliver snarked.
He then turned his ire to the fact that, when the app does work, it requires that migrants upload a selfie, but the facial recognition software often struggles to pick out migrants’ faces. According to the host, one shelter had to install bright construction lights to shine on people’s faces for the photos.
“I’ve got to say, given the history of everything that’s happened in this country ever, it is hard to think of anything more on brand than a U.S. immigration app that scans your face and says ‘Not white enough,'” Oliver mocked.
You can watch the full segment from “Last Week Tonight” in the video above.
