WASHINGTON/OTTAWA—The United States’ land borders between Canada and Mexico will remain closed to all non-essential travel until Nov. 21, the U.S. Homeland Security Department said Monday.
“To continue to limit the spread of COVID, the U.S., Mexico, and Canada will extend the restrictions on non-essential travel through Nov. 21. We are working closely with Mexico and Canada to identify safe criteria to ease the restrictions in the future and support our border communities,” said U.S. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Twitter.
Mexico’s foreign ministry also confirmed that the measures will remain in place and unchanged until Nov. 21.
Canada’s Public Safety Minister Bill Blair earlier disclosed the latest one-month extension on Twitter, confirming a policy put in place in March to control the spread of COVID-19.
“We’d love to have the border open … but we can’t do that unless we’re comfortable that Canadians are being kept safe,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an interview on AM 900 CHML Hamilton radio earlier on Monday.
“Right now, the situation in the United States continues to be of concern,” Trudeau added.
The restrictions are particularly painful for U.S. and Canadian towns along the border that are tightly intertwined.
Statistics Canada said earlier U.S. visits to Canada by automobile had plummeted by more than 95 percent in August compared with August 2019.
By David Shepardson and Steve Scherer
