EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — The U.S. has extended non-essential travel restrictions through Sept. 21, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security announced on Twitter.
“We continue to work with our Canadian and Mexican partners to slow the spread of #COVID19. Accordingly, we have agreed to extend the limitation of non-essential travel at our shared land ports of entry through September 21,” Acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf tweeted Thursday morning.
The restrictions in place since March 21 apply to non-essential land traffic from Mexico to the U.S. and from the U.S. to Mexico. The point is to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from one country to another.
On Thursday, Mexico announced its plans to extend the ban non-essential travel another month, Mexico Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said.
“We already told the United States that we’re of the idea that it’s extended because of what we have along the strip on their side,” Ebrard said, referring to a surge in cases in the southwestern United States.
On Friday, Canada’s Public Safety Minister Bill Blair issued a statement that the Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travel for at least another month.
