The Biden administration is planning to speed up the processing of asylum-seekers at the U.S.-Canada border in response to a significant increase in migrant crossings.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed in an email to VOA that there would be two changes in the asylum process at the northern border. They also emphasized that the agency continues to enforce U.S. immigration laws and deliver tough consequences for noncitizens who do not have a lawful basis to remain in the United States.
“DHS carefully reviewed its implementation of the Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada and concluded that it could streamline that process at the border without impacting noncitizens’ ability to have access to a full and fair procedure for determining a claim to asylum or equivalent temporary protection,” the spokesperson said.
CBS News reported the plan before DHS confirmed the details with VOA. These policy changes were scheduled to take effect Wednesday.
The first change will require migrants to present their documents, testimony and other credible evidence when U.S. asylum officers screen them to determine if they are subject to the agreement.
Before, migrants could delay the screening while they gathered the information needed to prove they qualify for an exemption.
“Asylum officers will consider only the documentary evidence available at the time of the TSI [Threshold Screening Interview],” the DHS spokesperson wrote.
The second change reduces the time a migrant has to consult with a lawyer. Starting Wednesday, a migrant has a minimum of four hours to get legal assistance before the first asylum interview. The DHS made a similar change at the U.S.-Mexico border in June in a move aimed at limiting asylum claims there.
The Safe Third Country asylum agreement between the U.S. and Canada was signed in 2002 and expanded in 2023. It assigns responsibility for processing asylum claims to the country where the asylum-seeker first arrives.
Those affected by the Safe Third Country agreement must show that they first requested asylum in Canada when entering the U.S. from that country. If not, they may be sent back to Canada unless they qualify for an exemption. Unaccompanied children and migrants with relatives in the U.S. are exempt from the agreement.
Similarly, those who cross into Canada from the U.S. and fall under the agreement can be returned to the U.S. by Canadian authorities.
The DHS spokesperson said these changes were expected to help U.S. immigration officials process and remove migrants faster along the 8,890-kilometer northern border, where migrant encounters have increased this year.
In fiscal 2024 through June, U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered 16,459 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Canada border illegally. That was up from 10,021 in fiscal 2023 and 2,238 in 2022.
The DHS spokesperson called these changes “only procedural” and did not provide any additional comments beyond the statement.
