Homeland Security takes steps to tighten asylum rules at Canadian border
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 U.S. President Joe Biden's asylum halt makes its way to Canada’s 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' 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.
“This makes it incredibly difficult when you think about how legal service providers work,” 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’t tend to have their belongings with them, Bush-Joseph said, “let alone reams of documentation of persecution.”
Ottawa didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
“This is a huge red flag,” said Jamie Chai Yun Liew, a law professor at the University of Ottawa.
“It really begs the question whether or not the U.S. is meeting its international obligations.”
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.
A U.S. Border Control Agent conducts a routine inspection at the border between Cornwall, Ont. and Massena, N.Y. (Heather Ainsworth/AP Photo)
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 – up from 12,218 for all of 2023 -- 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.
“(T)he possibility of terrorists crossing the U.S.-Canada border is deeply concerning given the deep penetration of Gazan society by Hamas,” 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’s problem and claimed the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee was “not a smart woman.”
The new rules at the Canada-U.S. border mirror the time-constraint changes brought to America's 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’s 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't have the right balance to ensure people get a fair hearing.
“It doesn’t 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.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 13, 2024
With files from The Associated Press
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Tensions run high on the Hill as MPs debate second Conservative motion of non-confidence
Members of Parliament debated the second Conservative motion of non-confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government of the week on Thursday, amid simmering tensions.
WATCH LIVE Helene strengthens to a Category 4 hurricane as it nears Florida's Gulf Coast
Helene strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane ahead of its expected landfall on Florida's northwest coast Thursday night, forecasters said, warning that the enormous storm could create a 'nightmare' surge in coastal areas and bring dangerous winds and rain across much of the southeastern U.S.
Cold case arrest: Nunavut RCMP charge man with murder in 1986 death of teenage girl
Mounties in Nunavut have made an arrest in the murder of a 15-year-old girl almost 40 years ago.
Mounties in B.C. warn 'highly convincing' scammers extorting victims with photos of their homes
Scammers are increasingly using emails to extort money from victims by threatening to reveal compromising photos, videos and personal information to their friends and family members, according to a new warning from Mounties in Metro Vancouver.
Air Canada flight to Toronto diverts due to emergency
An Air Canada flight headed to Toronto from Frankfurt diverted to Edinburgh due to an emergency Thursday, the airline says.
Canadian rapper K'naan charged with sexual assault following arrest in Quebec City
Canadian singer K’naan has been charged with sexual assault after being arrested by police in Quebec City.
NDP MP introduces bill to criminalize residential school denialism
An NDP MP has introduced a bill that would criminalize residential school denialism, saying it would help stop harm caused toward survivors, their families and communities.
Masking reintroduced in N.S. hospitals as respiratory illnesses increase
A partial masking mandate has returned to Nova Scotia hospitals and provincially run healthcare facilities for visitors and healthcare workers.
Eye drops recalled in Canada over infection risk
A Canadian pharmaceutical company is warning consumers not to use some of its eye drops because of potential microbial growth that may result in eye infections.
Local Spotlight
'It's a big pizza': Edmonton pizzeria selling pie that can feed up to 60 people
A pizza chain in Edmonton claims to have the world's largest deliverable pizza.
'I loved growing up in Nova Scotia': Sarah McLachlan excited to return to Halifax roots for tour
Sarah McLachlan is returning to her hometown of Halifax in November.
'Hats off to him': 87-year-old player still hitting the court in Sackville, N.B.
Wayne MacKay is still playing basketball twice at Mount Allison University at 87 years old.
'You're headed on a Tim's run': Alberta man puts Canadian spin on hit songs
A man from a small rural Alberta town is making music that makes people laugh.
'It's my most stolen image': Concerns raised about stolen Indigenous art for Orange Shirt Day
An Indigenous artist has a buyer-beware warning ahead of Sept. 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Ice cream criminals: Lethbridge break-in sees suspects steal plenty of pints
Police are looking to the public for help after thieves broke into a Lethbridge ice creamery, stealing from the store.
Delivering smiles: Winnipeg Canada Post employees going above and beyond while on the job
An ordinary day on the job delivering mail in East Elmwood quickly turned dramatic for Canada Post letter carrier Jared Plourde. A woman on his route was calling out in distress.
'We'll come back': Fire destroys barn, 17,000 plants at family-owned N.B. business
Fire has destroyed a barn and 17,000 plants at a family-owned business in Lower Coverdale, N.B.
Jeanne Beker, the trailblazer of Canadian fashion and music storytelling, inspires new Calgary exhibition
Before influencers on social media, Canada’s Jeanne Beker was bringing the world of high fashion down to earth and as Calgary’s Glenbow Museum gets a major make-over, it will include a new exhibition showcasing the pop culture icon.