Trump Signs Immigration-Related Orders Including Closure of CBP One App

In the hours following his second inauguration on Monday, President Donald Trump signed a slew of immigration-specific executive orders, including declaring a national emergency to deploy military personnel to the border, shutting down the CBP One app, and ending birthright citizenship.

“I will declare a national emergency at our southern border. All illegal entry will immediately be halted, and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places in which they came,” President Trump said during his inauguration address.

Some of the orders revived priorities from his first administration, which his predecessor had rolled back, including forcing asylum-seekers to wait in Mexico and finishing the border wall. Others launched sweeping new strategies, like an effort to end automatic citizenship for anyone born in America and ending use of a Biden-era app used by nearly a million migrants to enter America.

While President Trump signed the executive orders Monday, execution of elements of the immigration agenda are likely to face legal and logistical challenges. However, within minutes following the inaugural address, migrants who scheduled appointments to enter the U.S. through the CBP One app saw those appointments had been canceled.

The CBP One app was an online lottery system that allowed 1,450 people a day at eight port of entry crossings to enter on “parole.” It was a critical piece of the Biden administration’s border strategy to create new immigration pathways while cracking down on people who enter illegally.

Nelson Balido is an IDGA Advisory Board member and chairman of our Homeland Security Week and Border Technology Summit events. Balido also serves as Chairman on the Border Commerce and Security Council and has been a Special Advisor in the office of the Commissioner for Customs and Border Protection from 2023-2024.

According to Balido, the issue with the CBP One app was migrants leveraged the app to gain entry but would not follow through with the immigration process afterward.

"When you present yourself at the port of entry, you're processed, documented, and given information, but something like 90% of those people who got parole with the app never show up for immigration court," Balido said.

One concern with the removal of the app is migrants will yet again turn to illegal means of entry, but the Trump administration’s decision to send additional troops to the southern border shows it is prepared for the likelihood.

“The first thing you got to do when you're talking border control is stop the bleeding. You stabilize the situation before addressing the wound," Balido said. "By shutting down the CBP One app, it essentially seals the border. It stops the spigot of people entering under the guise of seeking asylum without showing credible fear."

Beyond closing the CBP One app, the Trump administration is also reinstating its “Remain in Mexico” policy, which forced 70,000 asylum-seekers in his first term to wait there for hearings in U.S. immigration court. Additionally, the order paves the way for Mexican cartels such as MS-13 and Venezuelan cartel Tren de Aragua to be named “foreign terrorist organizations.” 

"Trump’s policy ends catch and release. There’s no more being let into the U.S. without strict measures in place. Remaining in Mexico becomes the default," Balido said.

The series of executive orders issued Monday mirrors many of the promises given by President Trump on the campaign trail. However, much work remains if the White House plans to continue altering American immigration processes.

"A revamped system would need stringent vetting processes. Only those with credible fear—proven through documentation—should be allowed entry," Balido said.