Texas Border Business
By Texas Border Business
March 10, 2025- The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Monday that it has significantly overhauled the controversial CBP One immigration app. Introduced initially under the Biden-Harris administration, this tool facilitated entry into the United States for migrants awaiting appointments at ports of entry. Renamed CBP Home, the redesigned app now aims to encourage illegal immigrants to leave the country voluntarily, DHS officials said.
Under former President Joe Biden, CBP One, introduced in January 2023, allowed migrants located in Mexico to schedule appointments to enter the U.S. legally through designated ports of entry. This system permitted approximately one million individuals, predominantly Venezuelans, Cubans, and Mexicans, to enter the country under a mass parole policy that critics argued functioned as a de facto legalization route.
The Trump administration shut down the CBP One app on January 20, 2025, citing security concerns and widespread abuse. Before its closure, the app faced criticism over persistent technical issues, vulnerabilities, and data privacy concerns. Despite these problems, border agents reported that the app streamlined migrant processing, alleviating logistical burdens at overwhelmed facilities.
“The Biden administration exploited the CBP One app to allow more than one million aliens to enter the United States illegally,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News in DHS-provided statements. “With the launch of the CBP Home app, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system.”
The new CBP Home app enables migrants who entered the U.S. illegally to voluntarily register their departure from the country by submitting proof of exit. DHS states this voluntary self-removal process allows individuals to avoid penalties associated with formal deportation, preserving their potential to apply legally in the future.
Secretary Noem strongly emphasized the administration’s renewed enforcement policy: “The CBP Home app gives aliens the option to leave now and self-deport, preserving the possibility of future legal entry. But if they don’t, we will find them, deport them, and ensure they never return.”
Unlike the original CBP One app, which enabled migrants to arrange domestic travel within the United States, the new CBP Home app restricts airline boarding privileges exclusively to one-way outbound flights to migrants’ countries of origin.
Vice President JD Vance addressed the challenges of swiftly reversing the previous administration’s immigration policies during a recent visit to Eagle Pass, Texas. “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” Vance said. “President Biden gutted the entire immigration enforcement machine. We’re rebuilding it piece by piece. It’s common sense—it’s what the American people want.”
Since President Trump’s return to office two months ago, DHS has reported increased arrests and deportations. However, officials acknowledge that fully reversing the influx of migrants who arrived under Biden’s policies remains a complex, ongoing challenge.
In addition to the CBP One app, the Biden-Harris administration used the controversial Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHNV) parole program to release inadmissible aliens into the U.S. That program was paused in July 2024 after a DHS internal review revealed widespread fraud.
The rebranding of CBP One into CBP Home represents a more considerable commitment by the Trump administration to reestablish strict immigration enforcement and restore security along the U.S.-Mexico border.
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