Examining CBP’s Role and Trump’s Policy Through a Conservative Perspective

The Trump administration’s new ‘CBP Home’ app offers illegal immigrants a pathway to voluntarily leave the United States, replacing the controversial Biden-era ‘CBP One’ app with a focus on self-deportation rather than asylum appointments.

Quick Takes

The Department of Homeland Security has relaunched the ‘CBP One’ app as ‘CBP Home’ with a self-deportation feature as part of Trump’s immigration enforcement strategy.
The app allows illegal immigrants to signal their intent to leave voluntarily by uploading personal information, potentially avoiding detention.
A $200 million advertising campaign accompanies the app’s launch, warning illegal immigrants to leave or face deportation.
Immigration attorneys remain skeptical about the app, expressing concerns about data misuse and questioning promises of future legal return pathways.
The Heritage Foundation has expressed support for the initiative as a means to restore integrity to the immigration system.

From CBP One to CBP Home: A Significant Policy Shift

The Department of Homeland Security has officially launched the ‘CBP Home’ app, replacing the Biden administration’s ‘CBP One’ app that President Trump shut down on his first day in office. This new digital tool represents a fundamental shift in U.S. immigration enforcement policy, moving from the previous administration’s focus on scheduling asylum appointments to facilitating self-deportation. The ‘CBP One’ app had processed over 900,000 appointments for migrants seeking entry during the Biden years, but the Trump administration has characterized that system as having enabled illegal entry rather than proper border management.

The new CBP Home app, which will automatically update for existing ‘CBP One’ users, includes multiple features beyond self-deportation, such as applying for I-94 travel permits and checking border wait times. However, the self-deportation function represents the most significant and controversial new element in the administration’s digital border strategy.

CBP Home App – Allows Illegal Aliens to Self-Deport

🔹Illegal Aliens who Self-Deport may apply to return to US pic.twitter.com/tpE37Fsdc3

— DogeWatchReport (@DogeWatchReport) March 10, 2025

How the Self-Deportation Feature Works

The CBP Home app will allow illegal immigrants to register their intent to voluntarily leave the United States by uploading personal information and travel details. This approach enables undocumented individuals to depart on their own terms rather than facing potential arrest, detention, and forced removal. The administration has positioned this as a more humane alternative that gives illegal immigrants agency in their departure while still achieving the policy goal of reducing the undocumented population in the country.

To amplify awareness of this new option, the administration has launched a $200 million advertising campaign urging illegal immigrants to leave the country or face deportation. This represents one of the most expensive government information campaigns specifically targeting the undocumented population in U.S. history, underscoring the administration’s commitment to its enforcement-focused immigration agenda.

Legal Experts and Conservative Perspectives

Immigration attorneys have expressed significant skepticism about the app’s true purpose and the administration’s claims regarding future legal pathways for those who self-deport. Darius Amiri, an immigration attorney quoted in reporting on the new application, suggested the app might function more as a data collection tool for future enforcement actions than as a genuine opportunity for illegal immigrants to depart on favorable terms.

However, conservative policy experts at The Heritage Foundation have voiced support for the initiative. Lora Ries, a Heritage Foundation immigration specialist, has endorsed the app as a practical measure that offers illegal aliens an opportunity to comply with immigration laws voluntarily. This perspective aligns with traditional conservative approaches to immigration enforcement that emphasize personal responsibility and respect for legal immigration channels.

Legal Reentry Challenges and Long-term Implications

A significant concern for many immigration experts involves the “10-year bar” provision in U.S. immigration law, which prevents reentry for a decade for those who have been unlawfully present in the country for over a year. This existing law creates a substantial contradiction to the administration’s suggestion that self-deportation might lead to easier legal return in the future. For many undocumented immigrants who have built lives in the U.S. over years or decades, this presents a major deterrent to utilizing the app’s self-deportation feature.

The Trump administration has reported a significant decrease in monthly border crossings since taking office, pointing to their stricter enforcement policies as the cause. The CBP Home app represents one element of a broader strategy to reduce illegal immigration through deterrence and enforcement rather than processing and integration. As this policy continues to roll out, its effectiveness will be measured not only by deportation numbers but also by its impact on future illegal border crossing attempts and overall immigration patterns.