Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that discussions with President Joe Biden regarding the lifting of COVID-19 border restrictions between the United States and Canada have not yet resulted in a deal.
Trudeau announced during a press conference he had spoken with the U.S. president about lifting the ban on nonessential travel across the border, a restriction first implemented at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020 that has hit the travel industry in both countries.
“We will continue to work closely together on moving forward in the right way, but each of us always will put at the forefront the interests and the safety of our own citizens,” Trudeau said during the press conference.
CANADA OPEN TO RESETTLING CENTRAL AMERICANS ARRIVING AT US-MEXICO BORDER
Residents in Canada and the U.S. have raised concerns about the travel ban, which has affected major industries such as airlines and other businesses that depend on travel.
Meanwhile, the southern border of the U.S. has seen the largest influx of migrants from Latin American countries in two decades, which those on the Right say is due to the Biden administration’s decision to relax the stricter immigration policies imposed by the Trump administration.
Despite the pandemic restriction barring travel between Canada and the U.S., Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said on Wednesday the country is open to welcoming refugees from Central America by taking some of the hundreds of thousands who have sought refuge in the U.S.
Some U.S. states have been critical of the Biden administration’s handling of the surge, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey calling on other states to send aid to the southern border amid the “emergency” there.
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Abbott claimed on March 4 the Biden administration’s immigration policy of housing migrants in temporary camps along the southern border was essentially “importing” the COVID-19 virus into the country.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki sought to clarify Customs and Border Protection’s handling of potentially infected migrants at the border, saying the policy is to have migrants tested “before they are even moved to go stay with family members or others they may know while their cases are being adjudicated.”
