Migrants who entered the U.S. via CBP One app should leave ‘immediately,’ DHS says

Y. was working her regular shift at a California Walmart on Monday when she got a notification on her phone. It was an email from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

“It is time for you to leave the United States,” the email began. “DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole immediately.”

Y., a Venezuelan woman who asked NPR to use the initial of her first name because of her immigration status, panicked.

“I got nervous, desperate,” she told NPR in Spanish. “Even though I came in through a CBP One appointment, I don’t feel safe.”

The Trump administration is telling some migrants who entered the U.S. using the CBP One mobile app to leave immediately, as part of a broader push to revoke temporary legal status for migrants who entered during the Biden administration under a legal authority known as humanitarian parole.

Starting in January of 2023, the CBP One allowed migrants to schedule appointments at legal ports of entry instead of crossing the border illegally to seek asylum. It was a central part of the Biden administration’s strategy to relieve pressure at the U.S.-Mexico border by creating temporary legal pathways under an authority known as humanitarian parole.

The Trump administration quickly dismantled that policy, and is now urging migrants who benefited from it to leave immediately.

“Canceling these paroles is a promise kept to the American people to secure our borders and protect national security,” according to an emailed statement from the DHS Press Team.

The Department of Homeland Security says it sent formal termination notices to some migrants who were allowed to enter the U.S. through the CBP One app — though DHS did not say how many migrants have received those notices.

Y. came to the U.S. with her two children in July of 2024 after waiting in Mexico for an appointment through the CBP One app for more than eight months, she said.

They are among the more than 936,000 migrants who used the app to schedule appointments at ports of entry.

DHS is now encouraging migrants to report their departure via the same mobile app, according to the termination notice seen by NPR, which the Trump administration has rebranded and relaunched under the name CBP Home.

“With the launching of the CBP Home app, we are restoring integrity to our immigration system,” Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement last month.

The Trump administration has already moved to terminate parole for more than 500,000 people who entered the U.S. through another Biden-era program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans. But it has not yet terminated protections for those who entered under Uniting For Ukraine or Operation Allies Welcome, two other programs that also rely on humanitarian parole.

The notice sent this week warns that migrants whose parole has been terminated will also lose their work authorization, and also could be subject to criminal prosecution, fines and removal from the U.S., although it does make an exception for those who have “otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here.”

DHS has not explained how the termination notices would affect migrants who are in the process of applying for asylum, Temporary Protected Status, or other protections.

“People are really confused, especially if they have pending applications or pending court proceedings,” said Erika Pinheiro, the executive director of Al Otro Lado, a nonprofit that has worked with hundreds of migrants who used the CBP One app.

Pinheiro says the vast majority should still be protected from deportation temporarily because they do not have final orders of removal, and are fighting deportation in immigration courts, where many are seeking asylum.

“They are protected from deportation,” Pinheiro said. “But the letter seems to indicate otherwise.”

For many of these migrants, Pinheiro said, the main practical effect of the termination may be losing the work authorization that came with parole. But she says these notices may have less tangible impacts as well.

“The fear that they’re putting into individuals receiving the letter is real. And so a lot of immigrants, whether or not they have protection from removal, are scared,” Pinheiro said.

That includes Y., the Venezuelan woman who received the email.

“These last two months I’ve felt a lot of anxiety because I feel in a limbo,” she said Tuesday.

Y. traveled by land from Venezuela through Mexico, where she says she was sexually assaulted by Mexican police on the way to her CBP One appointment. She found a home in California and is working legally at a Walmart.

Y. told NPR she has her first immigration court hearing on Thursday. She’s planning to attend with her two kids.

“I’m anxious, and scared, but I will go,” she said. “I’m going to continue to do things the right way.”