Trump stopped usage of the CPB One app at the border. What does that mean for asylum-seekers?

Among his earliest actions in office, President Donald Trump discontinued use of the CBP One app, which had been developed by Customs and Border Patrol and rolled out under the Biden administration to facilitate asylum appointments at the southern border.

When the app shut down, countless asylum hearing appointments were canceled. So where do things stand now?

Kristian Jaime, who reports for the El Paso Times, said the app was first rolled out in October 2020 for a different purpose.

“It was an app that was going to help commercial truckers with scheduled cargo inspections. And in January of 2023, that functionality was expanded to include unauthorized migrants seeking protection from violence, poverty, persecution and that sort of thing,” Jaime said. “But in May of 2023, the Biden administration really ramped it up and made it the only way for individuals to get asylum appointments along the U.S.-Mexico border.”

The app went offline on Monday and existing appointments were taken off the books, Jaime said.

On Monday “at 5 a.m. those early morning appointments were still honored. But by 1 p.m., those appointments were canceled,” he said. “So that essentially meant anyone who would be adjudicating these cases had a clear schedule.”

The app being taken offline coincided with other immigration-related executive actions signed by Trump, including one that severely limits who can cross the border and request asylum.

Jaime said he and his coworkers spoke to those directly impacted by this move.

“We actually spoke to the last group of individuals who came across the McAllen-Hidalgo International Bridge under the program. And they relayed stories to us of individuals, their family members or friends, who were still waiting on the other side in Mexico, who were not able to get through,” he said. “Our reporters, Jeff Abbott and Omar Ornelas, were at the port of entry in Juarez, Mexico. And they actually spoke to these individuals as they were finding out that these appointments were being canceled. And they were devastated, as you might imagine.”

As of now, Jaime said border policy has reverted back to what it was the first time Trump was in office – often called the “Remain in Mexico” program – requiring asylum-seekers to remain in that country while their cases are being petitioned.

“As a result, about 30,000 CBP One appointments across the southern border were canceled, with about 270,000 migrants continuing to log on to that app, still seeking appointments,” he said.

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