Trump shuts down CBP One app, marking start of his immigration crackdown

The Trump administration on Monday abruptly ended a government program created by the Biden administration to allow migrants to use an app to obtain an appointment to enter the United States through legal ports of entry, signaling the start of the repression promised by President Trump in the south of the country. border.

Moments after Mr. Trump was sworn in, an announcement posted on the CBP One program website stated that the app would no longer work and that “existing appointments have been canceled.”

The program, which began in early 2023, allowed 1,450 migrants per day to set a time to report to a port of entry and seek asylum in U.S. immigration courts. More than 900,000 migrants have entered the country using the app since its launch in early 2023 until the end of 2024.

A former Department of Homeland Security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said about 30,000 migrants had appointments to enter the United States through the app as of Monday morning.

At the El Chaparral border crossing in Tijuana, Mexico, dozens of migrants who stared at their phone screens to try to check if their appointments were still valid received the heartbreaking message that they no longer existed.

“I’m in shock,” said Maura Hernández, who received the news Monday morning as she arrived in Tijuana with her four young children from the state of Michoacán. She had an appointment on Tuesday.