The U.S. has agreed with Canada and Mexico to extend land border restrictions on non-essential travel in September amid continuing fears about the coronavirus pandemic.
“We continue to work with our Canadian and Mexican partners to slow its spread #COVID, ”Acting Acting Secretary of Homeland Security Chad Wolf Friday. “Hence, we have agreed to extend the restriction of non-essential voyages at our shared inland ports of entry by 21 September.”
THOUSAND CROSSS US-MEXICO BORDER DESPITE NONESSENTIAL TRAVEL BAN
The US announced in March that it had agreed with its two neighbors to close its land borders to the north and south for only essential travel as part of a wide range of efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The agreement has been extended a number of times and expired on 21 August.
“We have already told the United States that we are of the idea that it is being extended because of what we have along the strip on its side,” Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Thursday, citing a rise in cases in ‘ near the U.S. border.
Essential border workers such as health care professionals, airline crew members and truck drivers can still cross the border. Much of Canada’s food ban comes from or through the US
Americans returning to the US are exempt from the closure at the US-Canada border.
It is one of a number of travel-related restrictions that countries have taken to limit the spread of the virus. In the US, President Trump is blocking citizens of China, Iran, Brazil, the European Union and the United Kingdom from entering the US
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The administration has also taken further action on illegal immigration and asylum seekers, and has taken measures to return them quickly to their home countries with minimal, if any, time in detention.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
