Trump’s plan to end the CBP One app could have border consequences

“As president, I will immediately end the migrant invasion of America. We will halt all migrant flights, end all illegal entries, end the Kamala phone app for smuggling illegal migrants (CBP One App), revoke deportation immunity, suspend refugee resettlement, and return Kamala’s illegal migrants to their home countries (aka as remigration),” Trump wrote in a message to X on September 15.

As President, I will immediately end the migrant invasion of America. We will halt all migrant flights, end all illegal entries, end the Kamala phone app for smuggling illegal goods (CBP One App), revoke immunity from deportation, suspend refugee resettlement, and return Kamalas…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 15, 2024

But the campaign is promising to end the immigration features the Biden administration added US Customs and Border Protection app could trigger an influx of illegal immigrants or have the opposite effect and draw fewer people outside the United States to the southern border, immigration policy analysts said.

If Trump eliminates the app, immigrants in Mexico would no longer be able to make appointments and choose to cross the border illegally. But disabling the app would also mean that immigrants in their home countries could choose not to travel to the US, knowing there is no chance of being released into the majority through the nomination process.

In the short term, abolishing the app could also lead to more people rushing to the border in hopes of getting an appointment on the long waiting list, said Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council in Washington .

“Ending the Biden administration’s alternative legal routes could lead to an increase in migration at the border, although the exact impact is difficult to predict with certainty,” Reichlin-Melnick said in a message. “Ending the CBP One process at ports of entry may encourage some migrants to try their luck by crossing illegally, rather than waiting months in Mexico for a chance to enter legally.”

The Biden-Harris administration added two features to the app in early 2023 that allowed immigrants from outside the country to apply for admission or meet with a U.S. customs agent. The measure was intended to give immigrants a way to gain entry without illegally crossing the southern border between ports of entry, but Republicans have criticized it as a backdoor way to allow hundreds of thousands of people into the country in less than two years.

The CBP One app allows immigrants from four countries — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — to apply to enter the U.S. conditionally, allowing a person to stay for two years and obtain a work permit. Recipients must have a sponsor in the US and pay for their international commercial flight. Since the process was fully rolled out in January 2023, more than half a million people have been admitted.

The app’s feature of allowing immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to sign up and fly to the country was part of a ‘carrot-and-stick deal’ with Mexico, and in return before that, Mexico gave the US the opportunity to place some citizens of those countries on the border with Mexico.

“Termination of the program could jeopardize that deal, limiting the U.S. ability to address migration from countries like Venezuela, which limit deportation flights,” Reichlin-Melnick said.

The app’s second function is to allow immigrants in Mexico to make an appointment at a land port on the southern border to meet with U.S. customs officials. A maximum of 1,450 appointments can be scheduled daily – a total of more than 43,000 per month. Immigrants who schedule appointments wait months before being seen at one of the eight entry points used for appointments, and are admitted overwhelmingly.

The Center for Immigration Studies is taking a tough approach to immigration and views the CBP One app as going beyond the authority of the executive branch.

Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, called the CBP One app a “gateway” for immigrants to enter the country because it entices them to travel to Mexico, where they can then request an appointment .

Eric Ruark, research director for the nonpartisan immigration group NumbersUSA, said the Biden White House has yet to reveal whether it will increasingly seek to increase the number of daily appointments to get more people into the country before Trump takes office.

“The Biden administration has used parole and (temporary protected status) and the CBP One app to get people in through what they say are legal pathways. Are they going to try to expedite that to get more people in and then make a deal with the Trump administration, with the headache of trying to undo these things,” Ruark said. “I expect they will try to get as many people in as possible before January (2025).”

The Trump administration may already have a solution in place to deal with a potential influx of people who, with no more frustrated appointments available, choose to enter the US between ports of entry.

Trump could restart the Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as “Remain in Mexico,” which would require immigrants seeking asylum to live south of the border while their cases are heard in immigration court.

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In addition, President Joe Biden took executive actions last June that significantly impacted the ability of illegal immigrants arriving at the border to seek asylum, and imposed harsh consequences on immigrants arrested for crossing the border illegally and who had not applied for asylum.

If Trump were to keep Biden’s executive order in effect, immigrants stuck between ports of entry would be “automatically disqualified from asylum” and face a five-year ban from seeking asylum.