Chicago – August 18, 2024
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.
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.
