United States to reopen land borders in November
After announcing the end of restrictions for vaccinated travelers arriving by air, Washington will reopen its borders with Canada and Mexico.
Faced with the pandemic, the United States closed its borders from March 2020.
AFP
After having already announced the impending end of restrictions for travelers vaccinated against Covid-19 arriving by air, the United States will open “in early November” its land borders with Mexico and Canada, also to vaccinated visitors, said in the night of Tuesday to Wednesday a senior official of the White House.
He assured, during a conference call, that the precise date of entry into force of the new device would be known “very soon” for these trips by land, as for international trips by plane, for which the obligation vaccine was announced on September 20. “It will go together,” according to the White House source.
Faced with the pandemic, the United States had closed its borders from March 2020, for millions of travelers coming in particular from the European Union, the United Kingdom, or China, then later from India or the Brazil. But also for visitors coming, by land, from Canada and Mexico. This has caused painful personal situations, and economic damage.
In “two phases”
Regarding the land crossing of borders, the source said that the new system would be implemented in “two phases”. Initially, vaccines will be required for “non-essential” trips, such as sightseeing or visiting family, but the vaccination requirement will not apply to trips deemed “essential”, which have always been allowed.
Secondly, from “early January” 2022, all travelers, whatever their reasons, must be fully vaccinated. This will leave “ample time” for example for drivers of heavy goods vehicles, who have compelling professional motives to cross the border, to be vaccinated, according to the White House.
The source indicated that the current restrictions for these land borders, which expire on October 21, would therefore be extended once again, until the date of entry into force of the new device. Asked about the vaccines that will allow entry into the territory, the senior official referred to recent indications from the US health authorities.
Which vaccines?
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), the leading federal public health agency, has “advised airlines that all vaccines approved by the FDA (the United States Drug Administration) and the World Health Organization). health would be accepted for air travel. “
“I anticipate it will be the same for land travel,” said the senior official, adding that in this case the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is not administered in the United States, would be accepted. The source clarified that this lifting of restrictions would only concern legal land entries into the territory. “Title 42”, the controversial legislation that allowed the Trump administration and then the Biden administration to deport illegal immigrants for health reasons since the start of the pandemic, will continue to apply, has she said.
This text, criticized by associations according to which it restricts the right to asylum in particular, was thus invoked by the White House to massively expel Haitians who had recently gathered on the border with Mexico. Regarding air transport, the senior official said that the Biden administration had yet to finalize the procedure, in particular everything concerning the tracing of people entering the territory, and the tests that will be carried out on travelers.
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