US to speed up processing of asylum claims at northern border to deter migrants from crossing

The Biden administration plans to speed up the processing of asylum seekers at the U.S.-Canada border in response to an unprecedented surge in migrant crossings at the border, according to internal Department of Homeland Security documents obtained by CBS News.

The move involves two changes to how the United States processes asylum claims under a longstanding “safe third country” agreement with Canada. The agreement, first signed in 2002 and expanded last year, allows U.S. and Canadian authorities to return asylum seekers across their shared border, based on the premise that both countries are safe countries for people seeking asylum.

The first change will require migrants to have their documents ready when U.S. asylum officers conduct checks to determine whether they are subject to the agreement with Canada. Previously, migrants could delay those checks to gather documents that could prove they deserve an exemption from the agreement. Some groups, such as unaccompanied children and those with family members in the United States, are not subject to the agreement.

The second change will reduce the time migrants have to consult with a lawyer before being processed by U.S. asylum officers to a minimum of four hours, down from a minimum of 24 hours. The update matches a similar change made at the U.S.-Mexico border in June, as part of President Biden’s decision to severely restrict asylum there.

Migrants who are subject to the Safe Third Country Agreement are not eligible to claim asylum in the United States and may be returned to Canada. Those who qualify for an exemption are allowed to claim asylum in the United States. Conversely, those who cross the border into Canada from the United States and are subject to the agreement may be returned by Canadian authorities to U.S. soil.

This aerial view shows migrants from Venezuela, Nigeria, Haiti and other countries arriving at the Roxham Road border crossing in Roxham, Quebec, on March 3, 2023. SEBASTIEN ST-JEAN/AFP via Getty Images

Both policy changes are set to go into effect Wednesday, Aug. 14, according to internal DHS documents. In a statement to CBS News Tuesday, DHS confirmed the measures, saying they continue to “carry harsh consequences for noncitizens who lack a legal basis to remain in the United States.”

“DHS has carefully reviewed its implementation of the Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada and concluded that it can streamline this process at the border without impacting the ability of non-citizens to have access to a full and fair process to determine a claim for asylum or equivalent temporary protection,” the department added.

While procedural in nature, both changes are intended to allow U.S. immigration agents to more quickly process and expel migrants seeking asylum along the 5,500-mile northern border, where migrant apprehensions have spiked this year.

So far in fiscal year 2024, Border Patrol agents have arrested 16,500 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Canada border illegally, compared to 10,000 in 2023 and just 2,200 in 2022, according to federal statistics. The number of Border Patrol arrests in 2024 is the highest ever recorded along the northern border.

As crossings at the northern border continue to pale in comparison to the southern border — where Border Patrol has recorded more than 1.3 million apprehensions so far in fiscal year 2024 — the surge in migrant arrivals at that border has posed major challenges for U.S. officials.

The Border Patrol has far fewer agents and resources to patrol the vast U.S.-Canada border than it does along the border with Mexico. The terrain itself, which includes dense forests, mountainous areas and wilderness, makes the task of patrolling the northern border even more difficult.

The vast majority, more than 75 percent, of all migrant apprehensions at the northern border this year have occurred in the Swanton Sector, an area that spans rural New York, New Hampshire and Vermont, according to government figures. The apprehensions there are more than have been made in the region in the past 13 fiscal years combined, according to Robert Garcia, the top Border Patrol official in the Swanton Sector.

While they had reached record levels over the past three years, illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border have fallen dramatically this year, reaching their lowest level since September 2020 in July. Officials have attributed the massive drop in migration to Mexico’s efforts to stop migrants heading to the United States, rising summer temperatures and Mr. Biden’s decision to restrict access to the U.S. asylum system.

Mr. Biden’s asylum crackdown, which is being challenged in federal court by migrant rights groups, applies only to the southern border and nearby coastal areas.

More from Camilo Montoya-Galvez

Camilo Montoya-Galvez is an immigration reporter for CBS News. Based in Washington, D.C., he covers immigration issues and politics.

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