‘Leaving devastated’: Migrants on cusp of reaching the U.S. turned away after Trump takes office

Jaime Melendez, a migrant from El Salvador, woke up Monday believing he was finally on his way to see his wife and three daughters in the U.S. after five years of separation. 

That morning he boarded a flight to Tijuana from southern Mexico, where he had been waiting for over a year to secure an appointment to enter the U.S. legally through a government scheduling app known as CBP One. 

But just minutes after Melendez’s flight touched down, his appointment for the next day was canceled. He is among the thousands of migrants whose appointments with CBP One were abruptly canceled just moments after Trump took his oath of office.

“It broke us, the family, everyone in a way because we had an illusion and we had hope and it’s over,” Melendez said in Spanish. 

Since early 2023, CBP One had allowed more than 930,000 migrants to enter the U.S. legally as one of few exceptions under former President Joe Biden’s policies which significantly narrowed asylum access at ports of entry for most people. 

The app was an expected target for President Trump, whose first day in office began with a flurry of executive orders including declaring a national emergency at the southern border, suspending refugee admissions and canceling Biden’s CBP One program, among others. 

The cancellation of the program was met by confusion, desperation and disappointment throughout Tijuana. 

At a shelter in the city where more than a thousand migrants were living, many still hoped to make appointments with CBP One on Monday. The app previously allotted 1,450 daily appointments at eight ports of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, but demand for appointments far outpaced supply, leading to months or year-long waits for migrants. 

Janina Hofer, a coordinator at the shelter, said they had been preparing migrants for the moment when appointments would be canceled. 

“It was very quick, but that was expected. And so from our side, we’re trying our best to calm the people down and just tell them to have patience because eventually something will happen again,” Hofer said. 

That morning, migrants said when they opened the CBP One app they received a message saying it was no longer in service as of Jan. 20 and all existing appointments were canceled. 

Several migrants said they heard that Trump would shut down the border, but they didn’t know what to expect. Melendez hoped the incoming administration would gradually roll back the program. Instead, it vanished in an instant. 

“They suddenly eliminated the appointment, eliminated the application and that’s it,” Melendez said.

Other migrants said they would keep waiting at the shelter for another opportunity to enter the U.S. legally.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency administering CBP One, referred questions about the app’s cancelation to the Trump administration. inewsource’s attempts to reach the White House have so far been unsuccessful. 

Across Tijuana, at the El Chaparral border crossing, more than a hundred migrants who had appointments that day or in coming days waited hours for information. El Chaparral was previously where those with CBP One appointments would be processed and let into the U.S. by immigration authorities. 

Suitcases and backpacks were scattered throughout the area. Dozens of families with babies and young children lined the sidewalks, some tearful as they scanned their phones or called loved ones to relay the news. A few clutched papers they printed with their appointment information. 

Norbelis Parra and her 8-year-old daughter were among those waiting. She and other family members she was traveling with spent eight months in Mexico before they received their appointment. 

Parra’s family is from Venezuela. They left because of the poor economic situation in the country, as well as the authoritarian regime of President Nicolas Maduro, who this summer was sworn in for a third six-year term despite significant evidence that his opponent received more votes. 

Now, Parra fears punishment from the government in Venezuela if she and her family return. She worries their decision to leave will be seen as treason, and that they could be imprisoned.

“We didn’t betray. We are looking for a future for ourselves, a stability for ourselves. We had the opportunity. And we still have faith that we have the opportunity,” Parra said. 

Several times Monday afternoon, José Luis Pérez Canchola, Tijuana’s then-migrant affairs director, was swarmed by reporters and migrants hopeful that some reconciliations could be made for those with CBP One appointments. 

Pérez Canchola asked migrants to keep waiting. 

But the confusion of Trump’s inauguration day continued when later in the evening the Tijuana government abruptly announced that another person, Nivia Kareli Ruiz Berumen, would replace Pérez Canchola. 

Pérez Canchola said later in a statement that he was asked to resign because he demanded better coordination between government agencies in Mexico to address migrants’ needs. 

Ruiz Berumen’s contact information was not immediately available.

Other Mexican officials from federal, state and local agencies, including Baja California’s undersecretary for Migrant Affairs, the Baja California Commission for Human Rights, and the National Institute of Migration, were also at the border crossing Monday. 

By the late afternoon, officials and advocates were encouraging migrants to start making arrangements for shelter for the night. 

A week before Trump’s inauguration, Tijuana’s City Council declared a state of emergency in anticipation of a wave of deportees from the U.S. as Trump seeks to fulfill his campaign promise of “mass deportations.” 

The mayor of Tijuana, Ismael Burgueño, planned to establish a government-run shelter with 10,000 beds for deportees. Still, migrant advocates and directors of nongovernmental shelters said the city wasn’t doing enough to prepare, according to KBPS.

But what will happen to the thousands of migrants who had already been waiting in Tijuana to enter the U.S. is still an open question. 

While some migrants are from other parts of Mexico, many others are from countries across the world, including the Middle East, Central American, South America and the Caribbean. They could be subject to immigration enforcement in Mexico if they do not have proper documents to stay there. 

Melendez, the Salvadoran father, said his wife and kids were heartbroken to learn that he would not be able to join them in the U.S. after all. 

“We were really excited when we got the date. We cried with joy and we hoped that everything would turn out well. However, it didn’t. We’re leaving devastated,” Melendez said. 

His family in the U.S. could also be subject to Trump’s immigration crackdown. They still have a case pending before immigrant court, Melendez said. 

Melendez said corruption and a lack of economic opportunity made him leave El Salvador. Now, he, his sister and his nephew whom he traveled with will return. 

“We have to go back. There’s no other way. May God protect us.”