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THE United States land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed for non-essential travel until at least July 21, the US Department of Homeland Security said Sunday (6/20).
The 30-day extension comes after Canada announced its own extension on Friday (6/18) of terms that will expire on Monday and have been in effect since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The US government held a working group meeting with Canada and Mexico on travel restrictions last week and plans to hold meetings every two weeks, US officials told Reuters.
The US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that the department has noted positive developments in recent weeks and is participating with other US agencies in the White House expert working group with Canada and Mexico to identify conditions under which restrictions can be relaxed safely and sustainably.
Some US lawmakers and the border community who have been hit hard by the restrictions have pushed to ease restrictions ahead of busy summer travel.
Canada is also under pressure from companies and the tourism industry to relax the ban, which was imposed to help contain the spread of the coronavirus and has been updated monthly since March 2020.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stood firm, saying last week the border would remain largely closed until 75 percent of Canadians had received the first two doses of the coronavirus vaccine and 20 percent had been given the first and second doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
In talks between the United States and Canada last week, the US government did not support setting a specific threshold to trigger the lifting of restrictions, said a person briefed on the talks.
“The inability of the US and Canadian governments to reach an agreement on easing border restrictions is completely unacceptable,” Democratic Representative Brian Higgins and Republican Representative Bill Huizenga, co-chairs of the Canada-US Interparliamentary Group said.
The United States is also holding a working group meeting on easing travel restrictions with Britain and the European Union. But US and airline officials said earlier they did not expect the Biden administration to lift the restrictions until around July 4 at the earliest. [antaranews]
