Migrants settle in Mexico after Trump CBP One shutdown

Migrants whose US border appointments were cancelled after President Donald Trump shut down the CBP One app are settling in Mexico, with some saying they no longer plan to try to enter the United States.

Venezuelan migrant Milko Garcia had an asylum appointment at the US border with Mexico two days after Trump took office in January 2025. It was abruptly cancelled when the administration shut down CBP One, the mobile app used to schedule appointments for asylum seekers and other applicants.

Garcia now works as a real estate agent in Tijuana, the Mexican border city he had expected to use as a stepping stone to the United States. He said he would not pay smugglers to cross illegally and would rather invest his money in Mexico.

CBP One had 270,000 open cases in January 2025, including 30,000 for applicants seeking a legal pathway from Mexico into the United States. The cancellation left many migrants in Tijuana, a traditional transit point that received about 25,000 foreigners between 2020 and 2025.

A 2025 survey in the area by the UN migration agency found that 45 percent of those interviewed had decided to make Mexico their home. Mexico received 70,500 asylum applications in 2025, the United Nations says.

Some migrant shelters in Tijuana that were once full are now closed or barely operating. Jose Maria Garcia, director of the Movimiento Juventud 2000 shelter, said only about 10 people are now housed there.

Al Otro Lado, a group providing legal assistance, is helping migrants regularize their status in Mexico after the shutdown. Deputy director Soraya Vazquez said applicants were overwhelmed when CBP One ended.

In southern Mexico, tens of thousands of people remain in Tapachula awaiting refugee status. Alpha Oumar Diallo, a Guinean migrant, said health and language issues had delayed his Mexican asylum process and that reaching the United States was not his plan.