US to restrict border crossings for another month: reports

The Trump administration is set to extend restrictions on nonessential travel across the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada at least until late August amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 

An administration official confirmed to Politico that “It’s an almost certainty” that the administration will announce before July 21 that nonessential travel with the neighboring countries will be restricted for at least another 30 days. 

A State Department spokesperson said in a statement to The Hill on Tuesday that department officials had “nothing to announce at this time.”

“Canada and Mexico remain strong partners as we work together to combat COVID-19,” the spokesperson said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday said a decision on the border closure will be announced “in the coming days.”

“We’re going to continue to work hard to keep Canadians safe and to keep our economies flowing and we will have more to say later this week,” Trudeau told reporters.

The reported closings will be the fourth time border restrictions have been extended since a partial closure was first implemented in March.   

Mexican officials have not pushed to end the travel restrictions amid fears that coronavirus cases could spread from border states like Texas and Arizona, Politico reported. Both states have seen upticks in confirmed virus cases in recent weeks.

The travel restrictions do not affect trade or essential travel, including for health care professionals.

COVID-19 cases have continued to rise in the U.S. and Mexico. Mexico surpassed Italy this week in fatalities amid the ongoing pandemic, becoming the country with the fourth-highest number of deaths around the world.

Trudeau last week touted Canada’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, telling reporters that “We were able to control the virus better than many of our allies, particularly including our neighbor.”

Canada has reported 108,155 cases of COVID-19 and 8,790 fatalities.

–This report was updated at 1:56 p.m.