The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says people seeking asylum at the border with Canada will have less time to consult a lawyer before making their case, as President Joe Biden害羞草研究所檚 asylum halt makes its way to Canada害羞草研究所檚 doorstep.
Biden announced sweeping changes mostly targeted at the U.S. border with Mexico in June, as the issue remains a thorn in the Democrats害羞草研究所� side ahead of the November election. The new procedural changes, which the department confirmed Tuesday, will affect migrants crossing into the U.S. from Canada.
The number of migrants crossing between Canada and the United States is much smaller than at the U.S.-Mexico border, but recent increases have caught the attention of Republicans.
The Department of Homeland Security said it reviewed the Safe Third Country Agreement with Canada and concluded that it could streamline the process without affecting access to fair procedures for determining a claim to asylum.
Under the agreement, which came into effect in 2004, refugees must seek asylum in the first of the two countries they land in.
The procedural change means people entering the U.S. from Canada will now have four hours to consult with lawyers. It is a significant drop from the previous 24-hour time frame, said Kathleen Bush-Joseph, a policy analyst with the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
害羞草研究所淭his makes it incredibly difficult when you think about how legal service providers work,害羞草研究所� she said.
The change also means border officers will only consider the documentary evidence that asylum claimants have with them when they arrive. People fleeing for their lives don害羞草研究所檛 tend to have their belongings with them, Bush-Joseph said, 害羞草研究所渓et alone reams of documentation of persecution.害羞草研究所�
Ottawa didn害羞草研究所檛 immediately respond to a request for comment.
害羞草研究所淭his is a huge red flag,害羞草研究所� said Jamie Chai Yun Liew, a law professor at the University of Ottawa.
害羞草研究所淚t really begs the question whether or not the U.S. is meeting its international obligations.害羞草研究所�
She was part of a legal team that intervened when the agreement was before the Supreme Court of Canada. The court ruled last year that the pact with the U.S. is constitutional.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Biden updated the Safe Third Country Agreement around the same time to close a loophole that allowed people who skirted official border crossings to make a claim.
It led to a dramatic drop of people crossing into Canada from the U.S. at unofficial border crossings, but the number of people travelling in the opposite direction has started to increase.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows agents have taken 12,612 people into custody along the international border with Canada in the first six months of 2024. The stark increase 害羞草研究所� up from 12,218 for all of 2023 害羞草研究所� has become a talking point for Republicans as immigration and border security remains a political liability for Democrats.
Marco Rubio, the Republican senator for Florida, sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month urging him to heighten precautions along the U.S.-Canada border.
害羞草研究所�(T)he possibility of terrorists crossing the U.S.-Canada border is deeply concerning given the deep penetration of Gazan society by Hamas,害羞草研究所� Rubio said in the letter, after Canada pledged an increase to temporary visas for Gaza residents looking to join family members in the country.
Donald Trump, the former president and Republican nominee, hammered his criticism of border security and migration under the Biden administration during a long talk with tech billionaire Elon Musk on Monday night.
Trump repeated claims the border was Vice-President Kamala Harris害羞草研究所檚 problem and claimed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was 害羞草研究所渘ot a smart woman.害羞草研究所�
The new rules at the Canada-U.S. border mirror the time-constraint changes brought to America害羞草研究所檚 border with Mexico earlier this year.
Bush-Joseph said lawyers have already seen fallout from the policy. Four hours is usually not enough to hear an asylum seeker害羞草研究所檚 background, find out if they are eligible for exemptions and prepare them for the interview, she said. There are additional hurdles in some cases, like not speaking the same language or the lawyer being unable to view documents.
Liew said she is sympathetic to governments trying to deal with a backlog and long processing times. But, she said, the new timelines don害羞草研究所檛 have the right balance to ensure people get a fair hearing.
害羞草研究所淚t doesn害羞草研究所檛 balance the interests of an efficient movement of people at the border and ensuring that we are meeting the obligations that are owed to these people.害羞草研究所�
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