As the border continues to play a key policy role in the upcoming 2024 presidential election, former president and current Republican candidate Donald Trump spoke out about the government’s immigration process during a campaign speech in Wisconsin on Saturday, September 28th. criticized.
He again mentioned the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app. It is a mobile application that hosts a single portal to multiple CBP services, including space for immigrants to schedule appointments to appear at ports of entry and for carriers to request. Cargo inspection.
“They have a phone app that allows people to come into our country…I think they’re smart immigrants because most people have no idea what a phone app is,” Trump said. -Told at Du Chien Area Arts. Center in Prairie du Chien, a city of about 5,500 people on the Mississippi River.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris’ campaign posted a video of the moment on X (formerly Twitter) with a caption that included President Trump’s comments.
Many users of X have reacted to President Trump’s comments, expressing surprise that he believes so many people don’t know what the app is.
“I think most people know what a phone app is,” former tennis star Andy Roddick wrote in X. 2024,” another person wrote, noting that Trump has his own social media platform, “Truth Social,” with an app component. Meanwhile, one commenter argued, “How far removed from reality do we have to believe that most people don’t know what a phone app is?”
The post from Kamala’s headquarters reflects the campaign’s recent strategy of simply posting clips of President Trump’s speeches and letting the internet’s viral culture do the work. The campaign’s X account posted other clips from Trump’s speech in Wisconsin, including a comment he made about flies on stage.
“Oh, there’s a fly. Oh, I wonder where the fly came from,” Trump said. “Look, two years ago we wouldn’t have had flies flying in here. But they’re changing fast. We can’t take it any longer.”
President Trump made comments about the insect during a portion of his speech discussing immigration, but did not elaborate. The moment prompted some social media users to recall a viral case in 2020 in which a fly landed on Mike Pence’s head during a vice presidential debate with Kamala Harris.
This is not the first time President Trump has targeted the CBP One app. Earlier this month, President Trump posted about the issue on his Truth Social account, calling the service “the Kamala phone app for smugglers” and vowing to shut it down.
According to CBP’s website, the CBP One app was launched on October 28, 2020, a day when Trump was still president. In January 2023, the Biden administration announced it would expand the use of the app, at which point immigrants began using CBP One to request appointments. The app gained particular attention after the Biden administration introduced new asylum rules after Title 42 expired.
If you do not apply for asylum in a country you transited through to enter the United States, or if you do not use the CBP One app, your asylum application in the United States may be denied. But immigrant rights advocates have criticized the CBP One app for not keeping up with immigrant demand.
Read more: Immigrants struggle to apply for asylum through CBP app
President Trump’s speech in Wisconsin and focus on immigration follows Harris’ visit to the U.S.-Mexico border. It was Harris’ first appearance at the party since she became the Democratic presidential candidate. After visiting the border on Friday, she spoke in Arizona, further sharpening her “tough on immigration” image.
“I reject the false choice that we must choose between securing our borders and building an orderly, secure, and humane system,” Harris said. “We can and must do both.”
