What to know about the CBP Home app encouraging migrants to self-deport
The Trump administration has retooled a Biden-era application that allowed migrants to access the asylum system into a device for self deportation.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the change to the CBP One app — now called CBP Home — on March 10. She encouraged migrants to self deport through the app.
Noem said the changes give migrants "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. If they don’t, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return.”
The changes come as the Trump administration has increasingly put pressure on over 900,000 migrants who entered legally during the Biden administration to leave.
The administration launched a campaign telling migrants to “Stay Out and Leave Now.” It is also planning on fining migrants facing deportation $998 per day and confiscating their property if they do not leave, according to Reuters.
Under U.S. immigration law it is legal to petition to asylum, but the Trump administration has paused the asylum process.
Here is what you need to know about CBP Home:
What is CBP Home?
CBP Home is the new version of CBP One, which permits migrants to apply for asylum screening interviews in Mexico.
The application now allows migrants who choose to self-deport to advise the federal government of their intention to leave the country.
The rebranding of the application faces criticism.
"To take a system that's designed to help people into the United States and turn it into a system that tries to encourage people from the United States is frankly a mockery of the immigration system," Melissa Lopez, an El Paso-based immigration legal advocate group Estrella del Paso, said. "This has been the theme that has been common with this administration, the idea of eliminating pathways for people to enter the country, and create only pathways for people to be removed."
Should you consider 'self deportation'?
Immigration lawyers suggest consulting immigration law experts before making any decision to self-deport.
"The biggest thing people need to have a consultation with an immigration attorney before they make any decisions as to what their next steps are or what the future looks like for them," Lopez said. "This is not a time to be relying on government information. It is propaganda designed to make people believe that these things are in their best interest when, at the end of the day, they are not."
While the Trump administration has suggested that migrants who self-deport could in the future "return legally," Lopez points out that there are hidden penalties that apply upon leaving the country. It is another violation of the law that makes it more difficult to return in the future.
"There are some penalties that penalize them for having lived in the United States without permission," Lopez explained. "It depends on how long they've been here, but those penalties only apply once you leave the United States."
Reapplication can also take a long time, as consulates abroad are overloaded with applicants.
What was CBP One?
The CBP One application was launched by the Biden administration amidst the mass arrival of migrants at the southern border.
The migrants overloaded border crossings, which led to historic levels of Border Patrol encounters with migrants between ports of entry in 2022 and 2023. The application was meant to create a legal and orderly system for accessing the asylum system.
The platform was also designed for users to check border wait times, apply for a 1-94 visitor visas, as well as request an inspection for agricultural or biological products — the DHS website includes hunting trophies as an example of those who would need to request this function. Lastly, the application presents a passenger manifest for bus charter companies.
The overall acceptance of CBP One contributed to the sharp decrease in migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, the application also raised a number of security concerns because the federal government collected biometric data and photos of non-citizens.
Trump announced the elimination of the application through an executive order shortly after assuming office on Jan. 20, 2025.
The suspension of the app was met by shock and dismay for migrants who held appointments to plead for asylum. There were roughly 30,000 scheduled appointments when the app was shut down.
The move essentially halted migrants' access to apply for asylum as allowed by U.S. immigration law.
What is TPS or temporary protected status?
The Trump administration is seeking to revoke the temporary protected status of nearly 532,000 migrants who legally entered the U.S. during the Biden administration. Nearly another 500,000 others also faced losing their status.
These rollbacks eliminate the Temporary Protected Status of Venezuelans, and end another parole program that benefited Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants who entered the country between 2022 and 2023
DHS announced it would eliminate the TPS status as of April 24.
But a federal judge in northern California blocked the Trump administration from revoking the status of Venezuelans who benefited from TPS. U.S. District Judge Edward Chen stated that the Trump administration's treatment of migrants as criminals "smacks of racism."
Public opinion on deportations
Public opinion about deportations remains polarized in the United States.
About half of Americans polled by Pew Research Center said that some migrants should be deported, especially if they committed a violent crime. Only 5% of the people polled by Pew Research Center noted that someone married to a U.S. citizen should be deported.
But one-third of Americans believe that all migrants should be deported, according to the polling. Only 16% of people polled said that no one should be deported.
Jeff Abbott covers the border for The El Paso Times and can be reached at:jdabbott@gannett.com; @palabrasdeabajo on Twitter or @palabrasdeabajo.bsky.social on Bluesky.