A group of American and Canadian business leaders are pushing Congress to develop a plan to relax restrictions on the land border with Canada.
The group is led by North American Competitiveness Strategy, and it is hoped that senior congressional leaders will request the Department of Homeland Security to develop a detailed strategy.
Specifically, the coalition is concerned about what it calls “huge delays” because border workers are working hard to deal with the vaccination situation and Coronavirus disease Test results of incoming passengers.
Their letter to senior members of Congress asked the department to explain how it plans to deal with the influx of tourists from Canada after the travel ban is finally relaxed.
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The letter read: “We understand the need to protect public health and believe that the United States can do this while relaxing restrictions on land borders.”
However, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection “appears to have no plan to implement a safe reopening without causing huge delays to land ports of entry.”
This letter is addressed to the chairmen and senior members of the Senate and House committees and the Homeland Security Subcommittee, as well as members of several key Canada-U.S. core groups.
Its signatories include organizations that focus on cross-border commerce and tourism, including the Canada-U.S. Business Association, the Border Trade Alliance, and the Pacific Northwest Economic Zone.
Starting Monday, fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents will be allowed to enter Canada. However, the United States has extended its land border crossing restrictions until August 21, citing concerns about the Delta variant.
Although he did not specifically mention Canada, Jeff Zients, who oversees the White House’s COVID-19 response, said on Thursday that the United States is not in a hurry to relax current restrictions on inbound travel.
“Considering where we are today? Regarding the popularity of the Delta variant, the United States will maintain the existing travel restrictions at this time,” Zients said at a media conference.
He added that the inter-agency task force established by the White House to review international travel issues is actively exploring how to best allow travel to resume when the time is right, including whether a vaccination certificate is required.
Zients said: “Part of the plan is a phased approach. Foreign nationals traveling to the United States may _still doing policy work here_ may require some type of vaccine requirement.”
“This is not the current decision; this is one of the paths under study and consideration. But at the same time there are other ways under study.
© 2021 Canadian Press
