July 23, 2025 • 15 mins
“Why don’t they just do it the right way?”
That question often arises in conversations about immigration, and this episode breaks it down. Because the truth is: there is no single immigration “line,” just a maze of inconsistent rules, long wait times, and constantly shifting policies that leave millions in limbo.
From family visas that take decades to asylum systems that have been digitally locked behind broken apps, this episode walks you through the hard truth of what “following the process” really looks like and who gets punished when the process gets erased.
What You’ll Learn
- Why the idea of a simple immigration “line” is a myth
- What happened to the CBP One app, and how it was turned into CBP Home
- Why current and former asylum seekers are receiving removal notices despite following the rules
- How the phrase “I did it the right way” can weaponize trauma instead of defending fairness
- Who benefits from a system built on confusion, bureaucracy, and apathy
Resources & Sources Mentioned
- CBP One App Official Update – CBP.gov
- Overview of CBP Home and Migrant Self-Reporting
- American Immigration Council – U.S. Immigration System Backlogs
- Cultish by Amanda Montell – understanding groupthink, language, and the myth of easy answers
Call to Action
- Share this episode with someone who’s repeated the “just get in line” myth
- Ask your local officials how many people in your district are in immigration backlogs
- Support legal aid groups helping migrants misled by app-based parole systems
- Follow, rate, and review Have a Cup of Johanny to help others find these conversations
Connect With Me
Threads & Instagram: @haveacupofjohanny
TikTok: @haveacupofjohanny
Join the newsletter: https://haveacupofjohanny.com/sign-up-for-our-newsletter/
Check out my books: https://haveacupofjohanny.com/shop/
If today’s episode hit you in the chest the way it hit me, don’t just walk away—walk toward something that reflects you.
Subscribe to the podcast, hit that YouTube channel for the behind-the-scenes, and if you’re ready to read a story about what it really means to come home to yourself—
👉🏽 Preorder The Ordinary Bruja.
https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-ordinary-bruja-book-one-of-las-cerradoras-series-j-e-ortega/
It’s about a Dominican-American bruja who’s been running from herself her whole life until ancestral magic, generational wounds, and a haunted-ass hill force her to face the truth.
If you’ve ever felt “too much,” “not enough,” or like you don’t fit anywhere, you’re exactly who this story was written for.
🎙️ Subscribe.
📺 Follow on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2SRDePbyy8M85Wbf25VUCg
📚 Preorder The Ordinary Bruja. https://haveacupofjohanny.com/product/the-ordinary-bruja-book-one-of-las-cerradoras-series-j-e-ortega/
Because becoming who you are is the bravest kind of magic.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh we could, we could fly.
Welcome back to have a Cup ofJohnny.
This season isn't abouthustling harder.
It's about coming home toyourself, to your voice, to your
breath, to the quiet truth thatyou're still here and you're
not starting over.
You're starting again.
(00:21):
This is your space to reflect,reset and remember who we tell
you.
So pour your cafecito and let'sbegin.
Have you ever waited in linefor something important License
renewal, a passport, a schoolapplication?
(00:44):
I know I have, and, as you justnear the front, this has
happened to me.
They change the rules.
Now imagine, the sign changes.
Every time you blink, thepeople behind you jump ahead,
the form you filled out lastyear is no longer valid and
(01:06):
someone watching says why don'tyou just follow the process?
Welcome back to have a Cup ofJohnny.
This is episode four of our Julyseries Debunking Immigration,
and today we're taking a hardlook at one of the most
persistent myths why don't theyjust get in line?
(01:30):
Let's talk about that line,because once you see how
unstable, unequal and oftennon-existent it really is,
you'll stop asking that questionaltogether.
All right, when people say justget in line, they are picturing
something like a deli ticketcounter.
Take a number, wait your turn,get your citizenship.
(01:52):
But in reality there is a oneline.
There are dozens of processes,each with their own maze of
restrictions.
Maze of restrictions.
Let's break down just a few here.
Just a few.
This is not the be-all,know-all list.
(02:13):
All right, family-based visasyou must have a US citizen or
legal resident relative.
The wait time for somecountries is 20 years or more.
This is usually what peoplethat don't know the facts say
about the anchor baby.
Right, that people are justhaving babies so that way they
(02:38):
can get a family-based visa.
But what they don't understandis that a brand new baby cannot
sponsor anyone.
I laugh because it's soridiculous the things that
people make up in their mindsjust so that way it can align
with their misconstrued,erroneous views and values and
(03:01):
what they think is a fact ortruth.
But these are for people 21years or older who are US
citizen or legal residents to beable to sponsor someone and say
, hey, I want this family memberto come and be with me.
(03:21):
But here's the kicker the waittime for most countries is 20
years or more.
Then we have employment-basedvisas.
These you need a job sponsor,not a relative sponsor.
A job sponsor Often it's ahigh-income profession, and even
then the number of visas iscapped and preference is given
(03:44):
by country of origin.
There are some, and if youGoogle it you will see.
Different years or differentadministrations or different
policies bring in differentpreferences.
Sometimes they take a look atwhat they think the economy in
the United States may need andthen they give preference to
certain technologies, certainknowledge that people should
(04:07):
have, as well as certaincountries where they feel that
that's where most of thatknowledge or expertise reside.
And once they give thosepreferences, those preferences
are capped by a number and thenthose types of people that hold
those specialties or expertiseare able to come in.
Then we have asylum seekers.
There's no pre-entry processwhen it comes to this.
(04:29):
You have to physically arrivein the United States or at the
border, and even then ourchances of getting through
depend on which administrationis in office.
This is when the line getswonky and the backlog folks.
As of 2024, more than 9 millionpeople are waiting in
immigration lines that may nevermove.
(04:49):
That's not a line, that's abottleneck.
As we were saying, santoDomingo un tapón.
That's people aging out, dyingor being forced to wait decades
to reunite with their families.
Now let's talk about somethingthat is recent and how a line
(05:09):
can just completely disappear.
Under the last administration,the CBP1 app was introduced as a
way to organize the border byscheduling appointments for
asylum seekers to presentthemselves at official ports of
entry.
I know some of you may haveheard of this in the news.
Sounds fair in theory, right,but here's what really happened.
(05:32):
The app was glitchy, unreliableand inaccessible for many,
especially Black and Indigenousmigrants or those in areas with
no signal or phone access.
Appointments were extremelylimited and some people waited
months just to get a slot.
So, while we have somethinghere that can potentially help
(05:53):
and people may be like, well,there's your line, you know
something was done, but you gotto understand the population
that this so-called app orresource is trying to help, and
then you have to go further withthat question to really
ascertain whether this is thebest method to help that
population.
If you really want to help,right, how can you say I want to
(06:16):
help this population but givethem a resource that is mostly
inaccessible to them because oftechnology or money?
You see, and this is some ofthe limiting factors when it
comes to the CBP One app, stilla good try, but then, in January
2025, the app schedulingfeature was removed.
(06:36):
Then CBP One was rebranded asCBP Home and, instead of helping
people enter the US, is nowbeing used to tell them how to
self-deport.
That's right.
So now we have this line ofpeople who did follow the rules,
who used the app that they weretold by legal agencies to use,
(07:04):
who entered with permission,they enter with permission and
now getting notices to leave thecountry and use the app to
report when they're already gone.
So when someone says theyshould just follow the process,
that statement is veryshort-sighted and erroneous,
(07:28):
because the only honest responseis they did and then the
process disappeared.
So the thing about immigrationlaw is it changes all the time.
You can ask this to anyonewho's been through it, who works
in organizations that have todo with immigration, who are
(07:50):
immigration officers, who areenforcers of immigration, and
they will tell you.
They'll be the first ones totell you.
It changes all the time.
What's legal today can becriminalized tomorrow, and what
was a pathway five years agomight now be blocked by a court
decision, a precedential orderor a budget cut, and then those
(08:10):
people that were following therules as they knew it before it
gets changed before the rug getsswept underneath.
Their feet are stuck in themiddle.
And let's not forget, daca isstill in limbo.
That's another example.
After more than a decade,refugee caps changed with each
(08:33):
new administration.
Title 42 allowed massexpulsions at the border, then
ended and created a new mess ofrules.
The Remain in Mexico policyliterally forced people to wait
in dangerous camps, and now theCBP whole map is removing people
(08:54):
who came in through theprevious administration's
process.
So the line isn't just unfair,it's unstable.
It's written in pencil, not inink.
Now I want to talk directly topeople in my community, latinos
(09:14):
and immigrants, who say I did itthe right way, so should they
(09:35):
get here.
I know, stay here, proveyourself here, but that
statement, I did it the rightway, so should they.
It's not justice.
Like I said before, that'strauma talking.
Not everyone gets the same entrypoints.
Some people are born intoeasier routes Citizenship
through marriage, familysponsors, refugee programs that
existed before they were shutdown.
Others, they're running fromviolence, from famine, from
(09:58):
persecution.
And when we say I suffered, soshould they.
We're not defending fairnesshere.
We are defending our wounds,our trauma, and we're defending
that these traumas and woundsshould be passed down to another
one who is under our umbrellas,under our culture, is under our
(10:20):
group.
But the wounds don't getsmaller by turning others away.
They get smaller when we say noone should have to suffer like
me.
This should not happen again.
Because, let's be real thisconfusion doesn't exist by
(10:41):
accident.
Listen to my previous episode.
The system is what it is.
The system is working as itshould be.
The messiness, the shiftingrules, the multiple lines and
categories they're alldeliberate, because the more
confused we are, the more likelywe are to blame the immigrant
instead of the system.
(11:01):
And while we argue with oneanother about who deserves to be
here, who's a criminal and whois not, you know who is
profiting Private corporationswith detention contracts,
politicians scoring points onborder security campaigns so
they can stay in office andprofit from the free health care
(11:25):
that they don't give theirconstituents.
And wealth continues to flowupward.
I know people don't stillbelieve trickle-down economy,
right?
I hope not.
Wealth continues to flow upwardwhile the rest of us are still
fighting over scraps and arguingwith one another.
(11:46):
So confusion keeps peopledistracted and that distraction
helps the system to continue torun.
So here's the truth.
There's no single immigrationline.
There never was.
What we call a line is really amaze.
The way I see it, it's almostlike playing double dutch and
(12:09):
hoping that the ropes don'tsmack you at the ankles, you
know.
But like I said, it's a maze,with blocked doors, rigged
checkpoints and moving finishinglines.
And if you've never had tonavigate it, it will be easy for
you to believe the myth becauseyou don't have the experience.
And if you have an experienceof an easy, lucky way of doing
(12:34):
it, then that's what you'reholding on to, as if that's the
only way to do it, as ifeverybody experiences the same
way.
But you can ask any mother outthere and they will all have
different experiences of theirchildbirth.
But we all gave birth to achild.
(12:56):
But everyone will have verydifferent experiences.
Some will choose to never do itagain.
Others will continue on to havelike 10 babies.
Some will say it sucked.
Others will be I felt so great,that was the best thing.
Others will say I felt so great, that was the best thing.
Others will say I remember thepain.
That's me.
Some will say I forgot the painas soon as I held the baby.
(13:20):
Same thing happened.
We all had babies.
Every single one of us haddifferent experience.
Think about that when it comesto immigration and how people
got here.
Same action, different way ofdoing it, different experience
due to different resources,different environment.
(13:42):
So, when it comes to this,let's stop asking why don't they
just do it the right way andstart asking who made the rules,
who keeps changing them and whobenefits when others get left
out.
This episode, open your Eyes.
Please share it with someonewho still believes in the myth
(14:05):
of the line ask your communitywhat does doing it the right way
even mean anymore?
Ask your community what doesdoing it the right way even mean
anymore?
Support organizations helpingmigrants who are misled by the
CBP One app and current parolerollbacks.
In the show notes I've linkedstats from Pew updates on CBP
Home and resources for asylumseekers and advocates.
(14:26):
Next week we're going in deep onthe good immigrant versus bad
immigrant narrative and how it'skilling us softly.
Until then, stay curious, staycompassionate and thank you for
having this cup with me.
See you next Wednesday.
Bye, if today's episode spoketo you, share with somebody
(14:49):
who's finding their way back,too to you.
Share with somebody who'sfinding their way back too.
And if you haven't yet, visithaveacupofjoanniecom for more
stories, blog posts and thebooks that started it all.
Thank you for being here.
Until next time, be soft, bebold and always have a cup of
joannie.
Oh we could, we could fly.
Welcome back to have a Cup ofJohnny.
This season isn't abouthustling harder.
It's about coming home toyourself, to your voice, to your
breath, to the quiet truth thatyou're still here and you're
not starting over.
You're starting again.
(00:21):
This is your space to reflect,reset and remember who we tell
you.
So pour your cafecito and let'sbegin.
Have you ever waited in linefor something important License
renewal, a passport, a schoolapplication?
(00:44):
I know I have, and, as you justnear the front, this has
happened to me.
They change the rules.
Now imagine, the sign changes.
Every time you blink, thepeople behind you jump ahead,
the form you filled out lastyear is no longer valid and
(01:06):
someone watching says why don'tyou just follow the process?
Welcome back to have a Cup ofJohnny.
This is episode four of our Julyseries Debunking Immigration,
and today we're taking a hardlook at one of the most
persistent myths why don't theyjust get in line?
(01:30):
Let's talk about that line,because once you see how
unstable, unequal and oftennon-existent it really is,
you'll stop asking that questionaltogether.
All right, when people say justget in line, they are picturing
something like a deli ticketcounter.
Take a number, wait your turn,get your citizenship.
(01:52):
But in reality there is a oneline.
There are dozens of processes,each with their own maze of
restrictions.
Maze of restrictions.
Let's break down just a few here.
Just a few.
This is not the be-all,know-all list.
(02:13):
All right, family-based visasyou must have a US citizen or
legal resident relative.
The wait time for somecountries is 20 years or more.
This is usually what peoplethat don't know the facts say
about the anchor baby.
Right, that people are justhaving babies so that way they
(02:38):
can get a family-based visa.
But what they don't understandis that a brand new baby cannot
sponsor anyone.
I laugh because it's soridiculous the things that
people make up in their mindsjust so that way it can align
with their misconstrued,erroneous views and values and
(03:01):
what they think is a fact ortruth.
But these are for people 21years or older who are US
citizen or legal residents to beable to sponsor someone and say
, hey, I want this family memberto come and be with me.
(03:21):
But here's the kicker the waittime for most countries is 20
years or more.
Then we have employment-basedvisas.
These you need a job sponsor,not a relative sponsor.
A job sponsor Often it's ahigh-income profession, and even
then the number of visas iscapped and preference is given
(03:44):
by country of origin.
There are some, and if youGoogle it you will see.
Different years or differentadministrations or different
policies bring in differentpreferences.
Sometimes they take a look atwhat they think the economy in
the United States may need andthen they give preference to
certain technologies, certainknowledge that people should
(04:07):
have, as well as certaincountries where they feel that
that's where most of thatknowledge or expertise reside.
And once they give thosepreferences, those preferences
are capped by a number and thenthose types of people that hold
those specialties or expertiseare able to come in.
Then we have asylum seekers.
There's no pre-entry processwhen it comes to this.
(04:29):
You have to physically arrivein the United States or at the
border, and even then ourchances of getting through
depend on which administrationis in office.
This is when the line getswonky and the backlog folks.
As of 2024, more than 9 millionpeople are waiting in
immigration lines that may nevermove.
(04:49):
That's not a line, that's abottleneck.
As we were saying, santoDomingo un tapón.
That's people aging out, dyingor being forced to wait decades
to reunite with their families.
Now let's talk about somethingthat is recent and how a line
(05:09):
can just completely disappear.
Under the last administration,the CBP1 app was introduced as a
way to organize the border byscheduling appointments for
asylum seekers to presentthemselves at official ports of
entry.
I know some of you may haveheard of this in the news.
Sounds fair in theory, right,but here's what really happened.
(05:32):
The app was glitchy, unreliableand inaccessible for many,
especially Black and Indigenousmigrants or those in areas with
no signal or phone access.
Appointments were extremelylimited and some people waited
months just to get a slot.
So, while we have somethinghere that can potentially help
(05:53):
and people may be like, well,there's your line, you know
something was done, but you gotto understand the population
that this so-called app orresource is trying to help, and
then you have to go further withthat question to really
ascertain whether this is thebest method to help that
population.
If you really want to help,right, how can you say I want to
(06:16):
help this population but givethem a resource that is mostly
inaccessible to them because oftechnology or money?
You see, and this is some ofthe limiting factors when it
comes to the CBP One app, stilla good try, but then, in January
2025, the app schedulingfeature was removed.
(06:36):
Then CBP One was rebranded asCBP Home and, instead of helping
people enter the US, is nowbeing used to tell them how to
self-deport.
That's right.
So now we have this line ofpeople who did follow the rules,
who used the app that they weretold by legal agencies to use,
(07:04):
who entered with permission,they enter with permission and
now getting notices to leave thecountry and use the app to
report when they're already gone.
So when someone says theyshould just follow the process,
that statement is veryshort-sighted and erroneous,
(07:28):
because the only honest responseis they did and then the
process disappeared.
So the thing about immigrationlaw is it changes all the time.
You can ask this to anyonewho's been through it, who works
in organizations that have todo with immigration, who are
(07:50):
immigration officers, who areenforcers of immigration, and
they will tell you.
They'll be the first ones totell you.
It changes all the time.
What's legal today can becriminalized tomorrow, and what
was a pathway five years agomight now be blocked by a court
decision, a precedential orderor a budget cut, and then those
(08:10):
people that were following therules as they knew it before it
gets changed before the rug getsswept underneath.
Their feet are stuck in themiddle.
And let's not forget, daca isstill in limbo.
That's another example.
After more than a decade,refugee caps changed with each
(08:33):
new administration.
Title 42 allowed massexpulsions at the border, then
ended and created a new mess ofrules.
The Remain in Mexico policyliterally forced people to wait
in dangerous camps, and now theCBP whole map is removing people
(08:54):
who came in through theprevious administration's
process.
So the line isn't just unfair,it's unstable.
It's written in pencil, not inink.
Now I want to talk directly topeople in my community, latinos
(09:14):
and immigrants, who say I did itthe right way, so should they
(09:35):
get here.
I know, stay here, proveyourself here, but that
statement, I did it the rightway, so should they.
It's not justice.
Like I said before, that'strauma talking.
Not everyone gets the same entrypoints.
Some people are born intoeasier routes Citizenship
through marriage, familysponsors, refugee programs that
existed before they were shutdown.
Others, they're running fromviolence, from famine, from
(09:58):
persecution.
And when we say I suffered, soshould they.
We're not defending fairnesshere.
We are defending our wounds,our trauma, and we're defending
that these traumas and woundsshould be passed down to another
one who is under our umbrellas,under our culture, is under our
(10:20):
group.
But the wounds don't getsmaller by turning others away.
They get smaller when we say noone should have to suffer like
me.
This should not happen again.
Because, let's be real thisconfusion doesn't exist by
(10:41):
accident.
Listen to my previous episode.
The system is what it is.
The system is working as itshould be.
The messiness, the shiftingrules, the multiple lines and
categories they're alldeliberate, because the more
confused we are, the more likelywe are to blame the immigrant
instead of the system.
(11:01):
And while we argue with oneanother about who deserves to be
here, who's a criminal and whois not, you know who is
profiting Private corporationswith detention contracts,
politicians scoring points onborder security campaigns so
they can stay in office andprofit from the free health care
(11:25):
that they don't give theirconstituents.
And wealth continues to flowupward.
I know people don't stillbelieve trickle-down economy,
right?
I hope not.
Wealth continues to flow upwardwhile the rest of us are still
fighting over scraps and arguingwith one another.
(11:46):
So confusion keeps peopledistracted and that distraction
helps the system to continue torun.
So here's the truth.
There's no single immigrationline.
There never was.
What we call a line is really amaze.
The way I see it, it's almostlike playing double dutch and
(12:09):
hoping that the ropes don'tsmack you at the ankles, you
know.
But like I said, it's a maze,with blocked doors, rigged
checkpoints and moving finishinglines.
And if you've never had tonavigate it, it will be easy for
you to believe the myth becauseyou don't have the experience.
And if you have an experienceof an easy, lucky way of doing
(12:34):
it, then that's what you'reholding on to, as if that's the
only way to do it, as ifeverybody experiences the same
way.
But you can ask any mother outthere and they will all have
different experiences of theirchildbirth.
But we all gave birth to achild.
(12:56):
But everyone will have verydifferent experiences.
Some will choose to never do itagain.
Others will continue on to havelike 10 babies.
Some will say it sucked.
Others will be I felt so great,that was the best thing.
Others will say I felt so great, that was the best thing.
Others will say I remember thepain.
That's me.
Some will say I forgot the painas soon as I held the baby.
(13:20):
Same thing happened.
We all had babies.
Every single one of us haddifferent experience.
Think about that when it comesto immigration and how people
got here.
Same action, different way ofdoing it, different experience
due to different resources,different environment.
(13:42):
So, when it comes to this,let's stop asking why don't they
just do it the right way andstart asking who made the rules,
who keeps changing them and whobenefits when others get left
out.
This episode, open your Eyes.
Please share it with someonewho still believes in the myth
(14:05):
of the line ask your communitywhat does doing it the right way
even mean anymore?
Ask your community what doesdoing it the right way even mean
anymore?
Support organizations helpingmigrants who are misled by the
CBP One app and current parolerollbacks.
In the show notes I've linkedstats from Pew updates on CBP
Home and resources for asylumseekers and advocates.
(14:26):
Next week we're going in deep onthe good immigrant versus bad
immigrant narrative and how it'skilling us softly.
Until then, stay curious, staycompassionate and thank you for
having this cup with me.
See you next Wednesday.
Bye, if today's episode spoketo you, share with somebody
(14:49):
who's finding their way back,too to you.
Share with somebody who'sfinding their way back too.
And if you haven't yet, visithaveacupofjoanniecom for more
stories, blog posts and thebooks that started it all.
Thank you for being here.
Until next time, be soft, bebold and always have a cup of
joannie.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Herd with Colin Cowherd
The Herd with Colin Cowherd is a thought-provoking, opinionated, and topic-driven journey through the top sports stories of the day.