About 270,000 migrants are waiting to enter the United States through an app that Trump promised to stop, according to estimates

Washington — An estimated 270,000 migrants are waiting on the Mexican side of the U.S.-Mexico border, hoping to get an appointment to enter the United States through a system which President-elect Donald Trump has promised to end, according to government figures obtained by CBS News.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection estimates that about 270,000 migrants in Mexico are trying to get an appointment distributed through a government app known as CBP One, which the Biden administration transformed into the main gateway to the American asylum system.

Now these migrants, many of whom come from countries outside Mexico, such as Haiti and crisis-hit Venezuela, are at risk of abruptly losing their ability to enter the United States. Trump and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, his candidate to head the department. of Homeland Security, have committed to closing CBP One.

The app allows migrants from certain areas of Mexico to request one-time processing by U.S. immigration officials at legal border points of entry, also known as ports of entry. The Biden administration established this process as part of a broader effort to deter illegal immigration by providing migrants with legal pathways to come to the United States. People admitted to the United States under the system are allowed to apply for work permits, as well as seek asylum in immigration courts. near their respective destinations.

As of Jan. 16, nearly 919,000 migrants had been approved to enter the United States through the CBP One app, created in January 2023, according to an internal government report obtained by CBS News. It's unclear what the new administration's plans are for people already admitted through the app, although those with pending asylum applications won't be deported unless they lose their cases.

Migrants walk along a highway en route to the United States, days before Donald Trump takes office, in Escuintla, Mexico. January 17, 2025. José Eduardo Torres Cancino/Anadolu via Getty Images

Demand for appointments to CBP One has been extraordinarily high, far exceeding the daily cap of 1,450 that the Biden administration set for appointments. Over the past two years, migrants have tried to get an appointment more than 166 million times, logging into the app again and again to try their luck, according to the internal report. Wait times typically extend to months due to high demand.

Since appointments are distributed 21 days before entry dates, approximately 30,000 migrants are currently expected to enter the United States under the CBP One system over the next three weeks. Appointments were scheduled through early February, well into the new administration.

It is not yet clear whether the Trump administration will honor these appointments. Even if CBP One were eliminated, any effort to stop the processing of migrants at ports of entry would face legal challenges, as federal courts have ruled that U.S. refugee law requires authorities to process certain asylum seekers. asylum at these entry points.

Outgoing Biden administration officials have warned that ending CBP One could prompt some of those waiting for appointments to enter the United States illegally, potentially upending the current four-year low in immigration enforcement. illegal border crossings.

In its first three years, the Biden administration struggled to contain an unprecedented wave of illegal immigration, with CBP processing record numbers of migrants. But illegal border entries fell in 2024, mainly due to increased efforts by Mexico to stop migrants from reaching the United States and a move by President Biden in June to severely restrict asylum.

The increase in illegal crossings that some experts predicted before Trump's inauguration never materialized. In fact, the Border Patrol is on track to record fewer than 35,000 migrant apprehensions in January, the lowest level since June 2020, when the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a dramatic drop in migration .

Internal Border Patrol figures show the agency made an average of just over 1,000 daily arrests in January, down almost 90% from the record month of December 2023, when on average more 8,000 migrants crossed illegally into the United States every day.

Illegal border crossings have declined so sharply that the trigger for turning off Mr. Biden's asylum restrictions is expected to be reached next week, two U.S. officials told CBS News. In his words, this policy would be gradually turned off when the average daily illegal crossings remained below 1,500 for 28 days. However, this rule could be removed or modified by the Trump administration.

Andrea Flores, who worked on immigration policy at the White House during Mr. Biden's first year in office, said migrants “will likely have no choice but to make an unauthorized crossing.” if the CBP One process is interrupted.

“The numbers may be low at the border, but it's a completely untenable situation that is entirely dependent on Mexico to maintain it,” said Flores, who is now vice president for policy at FWD.US, a group bipartisan that supports some liberal immigration policies. , including a pathway to U.S. citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

Trump's transition team has not responded to questions about CBP One, including whether officials are concerned that ending the system could fuel an increase in illegal border crossings.

Trump pledged to move quickly and aggressively to reshape federal immigration policy once he is sworn in on Monday, vowing to launch mass deportations and reverse the Biden administration's policies.

Other Biden-era immigration programs in Trump's crosshairs include an initiative that allows citizens of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to fly to the United States if they have American sponsors. The policy, known as CHNV, also aimed to reduce illegal immigration from these countries.

Authorities have admitted about 532,000 migrants under the CHNV program, but their fate is unclear as the Biden administration has refused to extend their U.S. residency permits by two years and Trump officials have spoken to end this policy.

The Mexican government agreed to accept some non-Mexican deportees, including Venezuelans, from U.S. authorities on the condition that the United States accept migrants under the CHNV initiative. Mexico has not yet indicated how the potential end of the program would affect this agreement.

The new administration will also need Mexico's cooperation to fulfill one of its campaign promises: reinstating the so-called Remain in Mexico policy, which forced migrants to wait for their asylum applications outside the United States.

Matthew Hudak, a longtime senior Border Patrol official who retired last year, said he wasn't “necessarily a fan” of CBP One when it was created, but noted that the policy had some “value” in that it deterred people from entering the country. United States illegally via the Rio Grande or other parts of the border.

But Hudak said the new administration should make the criteria for entry into the country through CBP One “more stringent.” He said Trump officials should develop their own border policy plan before the spring, when migration has historically increased.

“Now is the window of time,” Hudak said, “in which the (Trump) administration has the opportunity to establish consequences, to put things in place that can send the message that ultimately will ultimately become a deterrent for people deciding to make this illegal entry.

More from Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Camilo Montoya-Galvez is the immigration reporter at CBS News. Based in Washington, he covers immigration policy and politics.

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