Unpacking Elon Musk’s False claim about CBP One app, illegal immigration, free flights

X owner Elon Musk shared with his 200 million followers a video of a man who said it took him five minutes and a fake photo to use U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s CBP One app to be granted asylum in the U.S.

"Takes less than 5 minutes and zero documentation to get approved as an illegal immigrant and be flown to the United States with air tickets paid for by the American taxpayer," Musk wrote in an Oct. 2 X post that users viewed nearly 20 million times as of Oct. 4.

Musk reshared a video that originated on TikTok and was later shared by multiple verified X accounts. Combined, the posts have more than 42 million views.

The claim mischaracterizes how the CBP One app works. Signing up through the app doesn’t grant approval to enter the U.S. Some migrants use the app to make appointments for processing with immigration officials at official ports of entry along the southwest border; other migrants use it for prescreening when applying for humanitarian parole. The app does not provide free flights to migrants. 

Under immigration law, people who have been persecuted or fear persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, can apply for asylum. To apply, people must be physically in the U.S. whether they entered legally or not. Receiving asylum takes years. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection launched the CBP One app in October 2020 so that travelers could use mobile phones to access the agency’s functions. For example, tourists could view entry and departure forms and cargo carriers could schedule appointments for inspecting perishable items, the Congressional Research Service reported. 

The Biden administration expanded the app’s use in 2023 so people in Mexico who lacked a visa to enter the U.S., could use the app to make appointments with immigration officials for processing at official ports of entry. As of August 2024, 813,000 people had scheduled appointments using the app.

The app is used only for scheduling and prescreening; it’s not an asylum or parole application and doesn’t grant migrants U.S. entry. There are 1,450 appointments available daily. The person in the TikTok video appears to have created a profile on the app but not secured an appointment. Appointments are scheduled 21 days in advance, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.

At the appointments, migrants go through processing, including background checks and fingerprint analysis, Customs and Border Protection told PolitiFact. After that, immigration officials have the option to grant humanitarian parole — an official permission to temporarily live and work in the U.S. legally. 

Just as the CBP app itself is not an asylum application, the appointments also are not an asylum application, and border officials don’t decide which people are granted asylum. That decision is left to immigration judges or asylum officers, and often takes years.

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Kamala Harris

stated on October 23, 2024 in a CNN town hall

"As of today, we have cut the flow of immigration by over half."

The app requires that users submit a "selfie" photo that is used to verify their identities. If a person submits a photo of someone else — as the man in the TikTok video did — that would be considered fraud, Customs and Border Protection said.

The app’s terms and conditions page warns users that providing intentional false information through the app could result in a fine or imprisonment, citing 18 U.S.C. Section 1001 in the U.S. Code.

Using the app is the only way most people can access asylum protections. In June 2024, the Biden administration created a policy making most people ineligible for asylum if they illegally crossed the U.S. border between official ports of entry. 

Musk’s post said people using the CBP One app will "be flown to the United States with air tickets paid for by the American taxpayer." We have previously checked a claim that immigrants were able to use the app to get free flights to the US and rated it False.

Besides asylum seekers, the CBP One app is also used by people who have applied through U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services for a humanitarian parole program for people from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua to complete a prescreening process before arriving at a U.S. airport.

That program gives 30,000 people a month humanitarian parole, allowing them to legally enter the U.S. and live and work here for up to two years. To qualify, people must apply from outside the U.S. and have a U.S. sponsor, such as a family member.

Neither the parole application nor screening happens on the CBP One app. Program participants use the app to access information about their cases, get travel authorization and complete a travel prescreening to verify their identities.

People entering the U.S. as part of the parole program must buy their own plane tickets; the government does not cover the cost.

Musk said the CBP One app lets someone with "zero documentation get approved as an illegal immigrant and be flown to the United States with air tickets paid for by the American taxpayer."

The CBP One app is used only for scheduling appointments and prescreening. It’s not an asylum or parole application and doesn’t grant entry to migrants. It also does not provide them with free flights.

We rate the claim False.