The change is to take effect in late May, according to people familiar with the planning, and should restore the right of migrants to request asylum once they cross the border into the United States.
Officials are bracing for the number of interceptions at the border to rise much higher if a public health order that has limited immigration during the pandemic is lifted.
Some 12,000 Afghans who fled to Britain have been living in hotels for months awaiting permanent housing. This has raised questions about the country’s ability to take in many more escaping Ukraine.
Asylum seekers will have their claims evaluated by asylum officers instead of overburdened immigration judges under a new policy aimed at greatly shortening the process.
Under the arrangement, first offered in 2013, New Zealand will take in 150 refugees a year for three years from Australia’s widely criticized detention system.