Trump Terminates CBP One App in First Major Action as 47th President
President Donald Trump has officially ended the CBP One application, a program that allowed illegal immigrants to schedule appointments at the U.S. border to claim asylum.
The move marks one of his administration’s first actions after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.
The CBP One app, which facilitated legal entry for nearly one million illegal immigrants during the Biden administration, was disabled on Monday at noon. The app’s website states that “the functionalities of CBP One that previously allowed undocumented aliens to submit advance information and schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry is no longer available, and existing appointments have been cancelled.”
The app, initially designed for trade and commercial purposes, was repurposed under the Biden administration to provide a pathway for illegal immigrants to claim asylum, according to The Post Millennial.
The app permitted as many as 1,450 illegal immigrants daily to book immigration appointments and seek asylum in the U.S., per the New York Post. Illegal immigrants using the app were allowed entry into the country pending immigration court dates, which in some cases were scheduled years into the future.
A 2023 House Homeland Security Committee review found that 95.8 percent of illegal immigrants who scheduled appointments through the app were granted a Notice to Appear (NTA) and released into the country on parole. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) clarifies that parole does not constitute formal admission into the country under immigration law and is not meant to bypass established visa or refugee processing channels.
The Post reported that illegal immigrants in Mexico, who had been waiting for appointments scheduled through the app, were seen in tears after discovering their appointments were canceled immediately following President Trump’s inauguration on Monday.
Critics of the app have pointed to security concerns. Among the illegal immigrants who entered through the CBP One program was a suspected terrorist from Tajikistan with alleged ties to ISIS, as well as a Haitian immigrant charged with murdering his roommates, according to The Post Millennial.
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, recently confirmed as Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Homeland Security, played a key role in the app’s termination. During her Senate confirmation hearing, Noem pledged to end the program on Trump’s first day in office.
She emphasized the need to preserve data from the app to track individuals who entered the country under the program.
“There’s data and information in there that we will preserve so that we can ensure we know who’s coming into this country and who’s already here that we need to go find,” Noem said.
She also criticized a related initiative, the CHNV program, which allowed illegal immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the U.S. via government-funded flights. Over 531,000 people gained entry through the CHNV program before it was temporarily paused last year due to fraud concerns.
Under Trump’s leadership, the Department of Homeland Security is expected to implement a series of additional measures to tighten border security and reform immigration policies. These include halting programs that provide expedited entry and increasing scrutiny on individuals already within the country.
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