No, the CBP One app doesn’t grant migrants legal status

Vice presidential candidates Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance met on the debate stage for the first time in New York City on Oct. 1. VERIFY fact-checked several claims from the debate.

Immigration is a hot-button issue ahead of the presidential election, with candidates divided on policies related to border security, asylum seekers and pathways to citizenship. During the debate, Vance claimed a mobile app is being used by migrants to instantly obtain legal status. 

“So there’s an application called the CBP One app where you can go on as an illegal migrant, apply for asylum or apply for parole and be granted legal status at the wave of a Kamala Harris open border wand. That is not a person coming in applying for a green card and waiting for 10 years. That is the facilitation of illegal immigration,” Vance said.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump has made similar claims in the past. On Sept. 15, he called the CBP One app a “phone app for smuggling illegals.”

Does the CPB One app give legal status to migrants? 

No, the CBP One app doesn’t give migrants legal status. 

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app, known as CBP One, doesn’t allow migrants to gain instant legal status. Instead, the app allows migrants arriving at legal border entry points to pre-schedule appointments so they can apply for asylum.  

The mobile app was launched by CBP on Oct. 28, 2020, while Trump was president, so that travelers could access certain agency functions on mobile devices, according to the American Immigration Council. In addition to asylum application scheduling, the app also allows travelers to submit other information to CPB.

“The app has become the only way that migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum at a port of entry can pre-schedule appointments for processing and maintain guaranteed asylum eligibility. CBP One also became the only way that Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans seeking to secure travel authorization to obtain parole through special programs for those nationalities can submit their biometric information to CBP,” the American Immigration Council website says. 

Humanitarian parole is a temporary immigration status granted by the U.S. government that allows individuals to enter the U.S. for urgent humanitarian reasons. Conversely, asylum seekers must demonstrate they are fleeing the country for fear of persecution. 

The app was first created to provide travelers with access to certain forms, schedule inspection appointments for perishable cargo and to assist international organizations who sought to help individuals enter the U.S.  

Under the Biden administration, the app’s use has expanded to become a tool for scheduling appointments at U.S. ports of entry, submitting travel documentation and completing pre-screening processes like verification of identity. 

Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One was introduced in January 2023, more than 813,000 individuals have successfully scheduled appointments to present at ports of entry, CBP data says.