US And Canada Agree To Keep Border Closed For Another Month

The United States and Canada have agreed to extend a ban on all non-essential travel on their shared border for another month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced.

While addressing the public on Saturday, Trudeau said his government and the Trump administration have opted to extend a ban on all non-essential travel between the U.S.-Canada border for an additional 30 days, according to the Associated Press. The prime minister said the restrictions will likely be extended again.

“The agreement is the same terms. It’s just extended for another 30 days,” Trudeau said. “It will ensure we continue to get essential goods and services back and forth across the border.”

He added that the border restrictions will be in place for “many, many weeks to come.”

Per orders from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on March 20 announced that the administration would be closing all non-essential travel on its Canadian and Mexican borders — and that all illegal entrants would be turned back immediately.

To be sure, many types of international travel is still permitted, for the sake of economic trade and other important work.

Some examples of the “essential” movement that is permitted includes travel for medical and educational purposes, emergency response operations, public health services, and anyone engaged in “lawful cross-border trade.”

“Every day, over $3 billion in trade crosses the borders of the United States, Mexico, and Canada,” Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting commissioner Mark Morgan said earlier this month. “This trade is essential to the economies and well-being of North America.”

The border closure was supposed to expire in the coming week, but as the coronavirus pandemic rages on throughout the world, Trudeau and the Trump administration deemed it best to keep the restrictions in place.

As of Saturday morning, the U.S. has reported more than 701,000 cases of the coronavirus, and nearly 33,000 deaths. Canada has reported more than 31,800 cases and slightly more than 1,300 deaths.