As part of broad plans to change U.S. immigration, the Trump administration removed features from the CBP One app, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection app used by asylum seekers to gain legal admission to the United States along the southwest border. As of January 20, 2025, the app can no longer be used to schedule an admissions appointment, and any existing appointments were canceled, according to the CBP website.
The CBP One app was introduced in 2020 and has been developed into a tool for asylum seekers in 2023, quickly becoming the only way for migrants to “schedule their processing appointments in advance and maintain guaranteed asylum eligibility,” according to the American Immigration Council. The application “allowed 1,450 migrants per day” to make an appointment for admission, The New York Times writesand has helped more than 900,000 people enter the country since its launch in 2023 until the end of 2024.
No warning has been given to asylum seekers that the program will end on January 20, and the Trump administration has not indicated what might replace it. Engadget has contacted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Customs and Border Protection for more information and will update this article if we know more.
CBP One has proven to be a problem for the new administration during the Vice presidential debatewhile Vice President JD Vance claimed that there was an app allowing illegal immigrants to make an appointment and obtain legal status in the United States. This is not how CBP One works, and in fact the Biden administration’s use of the app was criticized for how it significantly slowed down and complicated the process, leading some asylum seekers to wait up to six months for an appointment.
