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Mother in Chicago, adult son in Mexico stuck separated with border entry facilitation app disabled

By Sabrina Franza

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    CHICAGO (WBBM) — President Trump this week disabled functions of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection CPB One app — which helped facilitate entry for nearly 1 million migrants since 2023.

The move forced tens of thousands of appointments to request asylum to be canceled — leaving some families split across country lines.

One mom who spoke with CBS News Chicago was split from her adult son after they tried to apply for asylum in the U.S. three months ago. She was able to stay, but he was sent back to Mexico.

The mother hid her identity due to her own fear of deportation. She described her pain and anxiety as she hoped she and her son would be reunited.

She said she is scared, but has to find the strength to tell her son that everything will be OK, and that he won’t be alone on the other side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The mother said her son was denied political asylum and had to go back to his country of Mexico — despite crossing the border after she said they fled violence, aggression, and exploitation.

The woman claimed her son was beaten — and said if she and her son did not pay the assailants, they would recruit her son as a hitman for further crimes.

The woman and her son’s previous hope was the now-disabled CBP one app — which allowed those trying to enter the U.S. the option to submit advance information and schedule appointments before crossing an entry point.

Now, the woman said all she can do is find a lawyer to advise her son, and wait.

Amid promises of mass deportations in Chicago, CBS News Chicago asked the mother for her message to President Trump.

“My only message is that human beings, we have a right to an opportunity,” she said in Spanish. “This country is a country of immigrants — not just you.”

The woman’s case is just one example of others believed to be in the same boat.

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