Within the first hour of President Donald Trump’s second term, the new administration swiftly implemented measures to curb illegal immigration. Would-be border crossers were informed that the Biden-era government app, used to facilitate the entry and assistance of illegal migrants, was shut down at noon Eastern Time. At the same time, Border Patrol agents were mobilized to close border crossings and ports of entry.
The controversial CBP One app was taken offline precisely at 12 p.m., coinciding with Trump’s swearing-in as president, according to an announcement by Customs and Border Protection. Under the program, tens of thousands of migrants entered the U.S. each month. Since its launch in January 2023, the app has been used by more than 900,000 illegal migrants and asylum seekers to gain entry into the country.
Footage captured by a Washington Post reporter in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, showed migrants who had scheduled appointments through the CBP One app breaking down in tears just outside the U.S. border upon learning their appointments had been canceled. This group represented only a small fraction of the estimated 270,000 migrants waiting on the Mexican side of the southern border, hoping to enter the United States before Trump took office, according to a report from CBS News.
The CBP One app enabled illegal migrants and asylum seekers in specific areas of Mexico to schedule appointments for processing at legal U.S. ports of entry. Once admitted into the United States through this system, they were eligible to apply for work permits and seek asylum in immigration courts near their designated destinations.
Former President Biden introduced the program to discourage illegal immigration, despite many asylum applicants not meeting recognized international requirements. Sealing the border and beginning the deportation process for millions of people who entered the country illegally was a major campaign pledge by Trump.
International asylum law, meanwhile, mandates that applicants seek asylum in the first safe country they enter, and that is backed up by U.S. law. However, this has not been the practice at the U.S. southern border, where “asylum seekers” have arrived from countries across the globe.
During Biden’s tenure, more than 10 million illegal migrants entered the United States, many of whom were “asylum seekers” from Africa, the Middle East, and numerous other nations—often traveling through multiple international borders before reaching the U.S.
