U.S. expands safe third country agreement with Canada—04-04-23
Immigration news, in context
This is the 154th edition of BORDER/LINES, a weekly newsletter by Felipe De La Hoz and Gaby Del Valle designed to get you up to speed on the big developments in immigration policy. Reach out with feedback, suggestions, tips, and ideas at BorderLines.News@protonmail.ch.
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This week’s edition:
In The Big Picture, we examine the modified safe third country border agreement between the United States and Canada
In Under the Radar, we take a look at how increased immigration has somewhat offset population decline in some U.S. metro areas.
In Next Destination, we discuss a new USCIS policy to allow people to self-report gender for most applications without requiring additional documentation.
The Big Picture
The news: When political figures in the United States talk about “the border,” they are almost invariably referencing the U.S.-Mexico land border, the busiest border on the planet by volume of people and goods using it every day. The U.S.-Canada border, which is almost three times as long, doesn’t loom anywhere near as large in the political and public imagination, but it is not without its own activity and policies. It was that border that was at issue last week as President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a modification to a nearly two-decade-old bilateral agreement that would allow each country to turn back migrants crossing the border in either direction.
Specifically, the leaders announced a modification to the so-called safe third country agreement, a deal that is rooted in domestic law in both nations and which broadly contends both that each country is safe for humanitarian migrants and has an ability to process their claims fairly, and that for this reason neither country is under an obligation to receive a migrant who could make an asylum claim in the other. The agreement, which went into effect late in 2004 as part of the post-9/11 slate of restrictive immigration reforms and policies, only applied to those crossing at official ports of entry, which left a significant exemption: anyone who crossed between ports of entry, at one of the many relatively unsecured spots along the over 5,500-mile long border.
In recent years, these types of crossings have increased in both directions, with areas like Roxham Road in upstate New York becoming sort of unofficial but well-transited crossing spots. Now, the deal has been modified to also apply to people crossing between ports, effectively cutting off the ability to cross through one country and apply for asylum in the other, with some limited exceptions. The move seems to be in response to both complaints from Canadian authorities about these crossings in recent weeks, and the Biden administration’s general efforts to increase restrictions ahead of the end of Title 42 next month.
Under the Radar
Immigration nearly tripled in most populous U.S. counties
The twenty most populous counties in the United States were top destinations for immigrants from 2021 to 2022, according to new data from the Census Bureau. These counties’ immigrant populations nearly tripled in that time frame—but many nonetheless saw declines in overall population even with increased immigration rates.
Los Angeles County, Illinois’s Cook County, and New York’s Kings and Queens Counties all lost population in 2022 despite attracting many immigrants, though immigration did somewhat offset the population losses. This comes after immigration was all but shut down during the COVID-19 pandemic, and rebounded in part due to efforts to account for pending or unprocessed applications.
Nationally, birth rates are declining and demographers are warning about looming population decline, which could in turn lead to a shortage of workers in critical industries. Of course, politicians on both sides of the aisle have not acknowledged the obvious solution—immigration—and have instead continued to focus on further militarizing the border.
Next Destination
USCIS to begin accepting reported gender identity
U.S. and Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated its policy guidance and will no longer require someone’s self-reported gender to match what is listed on their supporting documentation. With the exception of people applying to replace their naturalization or citizenship documents, people will also not need to submit proof of their gender identity when submitting a request to change the gender listed on their forms.
The move comes as trans individuals are facing increased restrictions nationally, often implemented at the state level and concerning education, sports, use of public facilities, and other areas. At minimum, this backing by a federal agency might make trans immigrants’ lives easier in terms of accessing immigration benefits and relevant services without taking extra steps or being able to produce documents that they may not have or even be able to secure.