The US is going to extend land border restrictions at Canada and Mexico on non-essential travel through June 21. The Biden administration announced via the Department of Homeland and Security’s tweet that “We’re working closely with Canada and Mexico to safely ease restrictions as conditions improve”. However, essential trade and travel are still allowed.
The DHS also didn’t respond for clarifications whether the US is going to ease land border restrictions immediately after June 21 or if they are going to reassess again by that time.
Conservative Approach Despite Improving Conditions
The first land border restrictions on Canada and Mexico happened on April 20, 2020, during former President Trump. It was a month after the WHO declared a pandemic.
After more than a year into the pandemic, the Biden administration plans to take conservative steps towards lifting land border restrictions. If you will look at the current numbers, the US administered more than 277 million vaccine doses. Around 47% of the US population already received at least one dose.
Then, you have the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxing on its mask guidance. Now, those who completed their vaccine can already take off their masks in most settings. However, despite the improvements, President Biden warns that the pandemic is not yet over. He reminded the public that COVID variants present in other countries can still enter the US.
Instead of opening its borders, the US placed the majority of countries of the world in its do not travel list. Also, the Biden administration still doesn’t want to resume leisure travel to countries like the UK. That is despite the UK doing well when it comes to its vaccination rollout.
However, the decision to extend the land border restriction in both Canada and Mexico isn’t just unilateral. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that vaccination rates and low community transmissions will ease the restrictions. He said that 75% of the population needs to be vaccinated to “start loosening things in Canada”.
He added that “Until the conditions on both sides of the border change very substantively, the measures at our borders will remain intact”.
