The European Union is moving to tighten migration controls after years of struggling to deport most migrants ordered to leave, with a top official saying the bloc is now working to “get control back” ahead of sweeping new asylum rules set to take effect in June.
European Commissioner for Internal Affairs and Migration Magnus Brunner said deportations have increased and new border screening systems are identifying potential security threats, part of a broader effort to address gaps in enforcement that have drawn criticism from the United States and fueled political pressure across Europe.
“Ten years ago, we didn’t have a system. We didn’t have control over what is happening and who would come into the European Union and who would have to leave again,” Brunner told reporters Tuesday in Washington, D.C. “And that’s why the member states agreed on the pact for asylum and migration. And now that’s what we want to get back. We want to get control back.”
The shift comes after years of criticism from Washington, where President Donald Trump has warned migration is “destroying” Europe and called the situation a “horrible invasion.”
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Brunner said return rates have improved in recent years — from roughly one in five to nearly 30% — but acknowledged the system has struggled to keep pace. Data from Eurostat shows that only about one-quarter to one-third of migrants ordered to leave the EU are actually returned, meaning most remain in Europe.
The EU’s long-debated migration and asylum pact, set to take effect in June, is designed to close that gap by accelerating asylum decisions, shifting more processing to the bloc’s external borders, and expanding return mechanisms.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio also has criticized mass migration and so-called “open borders” policies, while Vice President JD Vance has warned Europe risks “civilizational suicide” if it fails to regain control of its borders.
Vance has pointed to high-profile crimes involving migrants as evidence that European leaders have failed to respond to public concerns, as the issue has taken on renewed urgency following a string of recent attacks across Europe. Those include a terrorist stabbing of two Jewish men in London carried out by a Somalia-born British man, as authorities warn of rising radicalization and possible foreign-backed threats.
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Under the new system, migrants who arrive irregularly will be screened at the EU’s external borders, undergo biometric and security checks, and have their asylum claims decided within weeks, with rejected applicants fast-tracked for deportation.
The measures also expand the use of so-called “safe third countries,” allowing some migrants to be returned to countries outside the EU as part of broader efforts to speed up removals.
Brunner said new entry-exit tracking systems and real-time data sharing between member states are helping authorities better identify risks at the border.
“Out of these 30,000, we had 750 people who actually posed a security threat to the European Union,” he said, adding that improved data sharing now allows member states to flag such individuals in real time.
Brunner also acknowledged that European officials have struggled to communicate their migration policies, saying the EU “didn’t do it enough” in recent years and is now working to better explain its approach to U.S. counterparts.
European officials are increasingly tying migration enforcement to national security concerns, including what Brunner described as efforts by Russia and Belarus to weaponize migration flows.
“The Russians and the Belarusians are using people, using migrants, as a weapon against the European Union,” he said, pointing to pressure along the Polish-Belarusian border as part of “hybrid warfare.”
Brunner added that global conflicts, including tensions involving Iran, are contributing to concerns about radicalization, though he said there are no clear signs yet of a migration surge linked to those developments.
The tougher approach, he said, is aimed in part at maintaining public support for legal migration and asylum protections.
“If you want to get the support of the people in Europe, then they must have the feeling that we have control of what we’re doing,” Brunner said. “People in Europe will only accept continuing and granting asylum … if they are sure that the system is not abused.”