The Trump administration has transformed the Biden-era “CBP One” app, which allowed migrants to apply for asylum in the United States from their home countries, into “CBP Home,” a platform aimed at streamlining the self-deportation of illegal immigrants.
CBP Home will automatically replace CBP One on users’ devices, and the Department of Homeland Security can use CBP One registrations to track migrants. Those opting to self-deport can submit their biographical details—including citizenship, intended departure country, contact information, and a photo for identity verification—to Customs and Border Protection, according to Fox News’s Bill Melugin.
The move marks a major shift in policy. The Biden administration used CBP One to process migrants at ports of entry, facilitating their asylum requests and parole into the United States. By the end of Joe Biden’s term, around one million migrants had entered the country through the app, the Washington Free Beacon reported. President Donald Trump ended the program on his first day back in office.
“The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, so they may still have the opportunity to return legally in the future and live the American dream,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement to Fox News.
“If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return,” Noem warned, noting that the new platform is “restoring integrity to our immigration system.”
Self-deportation significantly reduces costs for federal immigration authorities, freeing up resources to focus on removing criminal aliens, according to the DHS.
Trump has ramped up immigration enforcement since returning to the White House. Migrant encounters at the southern border have dropped to the lowest level since 2017. A total of 42,048 illegal migrants were removed from the United States between January 21 and February 18, according to Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen.
