Close To 1 Million More Migrants Face Deportation After DHS Revokes Paroles Granted Through CBP One App

Nearly one million migrants who legally entered the United States over the past year through the CBP One app are now also facing the possibility of deportation following the Department of Homeland Security's decision to revoke their temporary parole status.

Since January 2023 and under the Joe Biden administration, the CBP One app facilitated appointments for over 900,000 migrants to enter the U.S. at southern border ports of entry. Most were allowed to stay for up to two years and obtain work authorization under a presidential authority known as parole.

That policy is now ending under the Donald Trump administration, with Homeland Security sending out termination notices urging recipients to leave the country immediately, as The Associated Press reported on Tuesday. "Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security," the DHS media affairs office said in a written statement.

Beneficiaries are now being asked to self-deport using the updated version of the app, which seeks to gather their personal information to locate them more easily.

In an email reviewed by the Associated Press, DHS told a Honduran family, "It's time for you to abandon the United States." Similar messages have circulated widely on social media. The nonprofit Al Otro Lado confirmed to AP that deportation letters have been received by individuals from Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico.

The CBP One app had been a cornerstone of the Biden administration's strategy to reduce illegal crossings by expanding legal pathways. Migrants, including large numbers from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Mexico, used the app daily to seek appointments. By the end of 2023, 936,500 had entered the U.S. through this process. The program was especially popular among those willing to wait in Mexico for a legal way to enter the country, rather than risking crossing the border and living irregularly.

On his first day in office, President Trump ended CBP One for new entrants, effectively stranding thousands of migrants in Mexico who already had scheduled appointments. The administration later repurposed the app to CBP Home and began using its data to locate and contact parole recipients for deportation.

Upon the repurposing of the app, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said migrants who voluntarily leave "will still have the opportunity to return legally in the future." However, she warned: "If they don't, we will find them, we will deport them, and they will never return."

The revocation of CBP One parole follows similar DHS decisions targeting other Biden-era parole programs. Last month, DHS announced it would end parole for 532,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, effective April 24. Additionally, the administration moved to rescind Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians, though a federal judge has paused parts of that policy.