The Biden administration is reportedly considering restricting domestic travel to certain states affected by the new U.K. strain of the coronavirus. No such plan has been announced, however, and President Biden ought to keep it that way.
Shutting down interstate travel at this point would be unnecessary. The daily average caseload has been dropping in most states, and that trend will continue as vaccine distribution broadens and accelerates. Even in states where new strains of the coronavirus are spreading, such as Florida and California, hospitalizations and deaths remain comparatively low. The numbers suggest that the worst is behind us.
Restricting travel would make things worse. Logistically, a domestic travel ban would be a nightmare to enforce. How would law enforcement keep citizens traveling by car from entering blocked states, such as Florida? What would the punishment be for citizens who violated the travel ban? Would residents of the affected states be prevented from traveling anywhere else?
Even if the Biden administration were to come up with reasonable answers to these questions, prohibiting interstate travel would deliver an economic blow we cannot afford. The airlines would need another bailout if they were forced to cut off flights to certain parts of the country for extended periods of time, and states that rely on tourism would see their economic recoveries grind to a halt.
It’s ironic that Biden is even considering such a move, considering his past opposition to an international travel ban, which was much easier to enforce and not nearly as detrimental to the country’s economic stability. When the Trump administration announced that it would ban travel from China in early 2020, Biden suggested the move was xenophobic and only supported the measure after his campaign began to face criticism.
It should be up to the individual states to determine which restrictions are necessary moving forward. If Florida decides it needs to limit interstate travel, as Gov. Ron DeSantis did in March of last year, then that’s on Florida. But the federal government should not pick and choose which states should be shut down and which ones should remain open, especially since every state has approached the coronavirus differently.
