Muhamad Yehia
The CBP One app allowed nearly a million people to legally enter the United States with permission to wor
The Trump administration axed a border app called CBP One that has allowed nearly 1 million people to legally enter the United States and work.
The app that let migrants make appointments at eight southern border points is no longer available and that existing appointments are cancelled, according to a notice on the US Customs and Border Protection that went up shortly after Trump was sworn in.
The CBP app scheduled roughly 1,450 appointments a day through an online lottery system. It was most popular among nationals from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Mexico.
The app was first introduced at the end of Trump’s first term as a way for customs brokers to schedule inspections and for visitors with short-term visas to extend stays.
Under former president Joe Biden, the app’s use was expended to replace an opaque patchwork of exemptions to a pandemic-related asylum ban that was then in place.
Officials from Biden’s administration portray the app as a key success in creating legal pathways at the border while still deterring illegal crossings.
The move adheres to a promise Trump made during his campaign and will please critics who say it was an overly generous magnet for more people to come to Mexico’s border with the United States.
The end of the CBP One app is among the president’s first moves on the immigration file since his Inauguration a couple of hours ago.
Among other policies, the new US President said in his Inauguration speech that he will be suspending refugee intakes for four months, implement a “Remain in Mexico” policy for asylum seekers coming from the southern border, and send the National Guard to reinforce it.