A Day In, The New Trump Administration Is Already Causing Terrifying Damage
Note: This post is an Op-Ed and shares the author's personal views.
Yesterday, shortly after Donald Trump was inaugurated, the CBP One app shut down.
The flawed app was the only way that people at the border could get an appointment to request asylum in the US. This meant that refugees suddenly found that their appointments to legally enter the country were canceled after months of waiting. The number of appointments canceled reportedly went into the tens of thousands.
As The International Rescue Committee puts it, "Asylum is a form of protection granted to individuals who can demonstrate that they are unable or unwilling to return to their country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of: race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."
One such place was at the border in Ciudad Juarez, where the app had worked earlier that morning and allowed people to go through as planned. I can't stop thinking about one of the pictures that emerged from the area. It's of Margelis Tinoco, a 48-year-old Colombian migrant.
Washington Post reporter Arelis R. Hernández shared a video of Margelis crying and calling for God, adding, "For clarification, everyone of these folks submitted biometric, biographical & other ID info to the U.S. govt via app in order to enter the country LEGALLY through this Biden admin program that sought to cut illegals entries. They had DHS-sanctioned appointments set for today."
Migrants in Ciudad Juárez who were waiting for their 1 pm CBP1 parole appointments learned 20 minutes ago that the app has shut down & those appointments are no longer valid. pic.twitter.com/F3pNrZyEBR
— Arelis R. Hernández (@arelisrhdz) January 20, 2025
Her feelings are echoed in migrant Maria Mercado's story. As per AP News, her family had an appointment for 1 p.m. — just four hours too late. “We don’t know what we are going to do,” she told reporters, after having to leave both Colombia and Ecuador because of drug cartel violence. "I’m not asking the world for anything — only God. I’m asking God to please let us get in."
Anadolu / Anadolu via Getty Images, Picture Alliance / dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
Around 400 people typically used the app to cross the border legally per day in Tijuana.
Another person, Jairol Polo, had been able to get an appointment on Wednesday after trying for six months. He subsequently flew to the Matamoros-Brownsville border, only to find out that the appointment was canceled. "Imagine how we feel,” he told AP News. Similarly, a woman tearfully told NBC News that her appointment had been canceled after a year and a half of waiting.
Guillermo Arias / AFP via Getty Images, Picture Alliance / dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
Some Trump supporters celebrated the move, falsely claiming it would halt people "breaking the law." While the path to asylum died, plenty of billionaires had a great time celebrating Trump's inauguration.
There is currently no way to appeal, thanks to a man who doesn't appear to know the difference between political and mental asylum. But that's the Trump way: misinformed and callously cruel.