Border officers' union raises security concerns about use of automation during asylum intakes
CBC
The head of the union representing Canada’s border officers is suggesting the government's move toward automating the refugee claimant process is creating security gaps.
The Canada Border Services Agency was firm in pushing back against those allegations.
At issue is the CBSA’s One Touch intake system. It was thrust into the spotlight earlier this week after Customs and Immigration Union president Mark Weber raised concerns with what he sees as the dwindling amount of human interaction at the border while testifying before the standing committee on citizenship and immigration.
“This is a terrible thing,” he told MPs on the committee Tuesday.
“We are short-staffed, we're allowing people into the country without first doing that security screening.”
The One Touch model, which was piloted in 2022 and has since been rolled out nationally, was created to process what the CBSA calls “low-risk” claimants while managing high volumes of asylum seekers.
Previously, people seeking asylum in Canada would complete their forms in the presence of an officer upon arrival.
“That was our opportunity to ask follow-up questions, make sure that the claim is genuine. We could look for things like indications of coaching, human smuggling, that kind of thing,” Weber told CBC News in an interview Thursday.
Under the One Touch process, an eligible claimant is assessed by an officer and has their biometrics, like fingerprint impressions and photos, taken.
According to the CBSA, if they are flagged as high risk, the claimant still goes through the in-person application. But those deemed low risk have 45 days to fill out the required forms themselves online.
Weber called the initial risk assessment “very cursory.”
"We're not verifying anyone's story at all,” he said. “The ability for us to confirm whether or not their story is genuine has really been removed.”
Weber also said about 10 per cent of claimants don’t fill out the form, leaving it to CBSA inland offices to try and track them down for removal.
"It's exactly the people with the greatest motivation to not self-declare who are going to be the ones who don't self-declare and don't report back,” he said.
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