On the anniversary of the United States’ closing of its borders to its neighbors to the north and south, lawmakers and families throughout the nation separated by the border proceed to languish with no clear finish in sight.
“This has been a year of struggle for binational families,” stated Devon Weber, founder of Let Us Reunite, a marketing campaign of 2,200 families lobbying the U.S. authorities for larger journey exemptions for communities separated by the border shutdowns.
“Your life is in limbo and it’s extremely frustrating. Heartbreaking is the word that comes to mind,” Weber stated of the scenario affecting families on each side of the border. Each month in the course of the pandemic, border restrictions have been reauthorized with no clear end.
With a brand new administration within the White House, lawmakers have begun lobbying President Joe Biden for a transparent timetable and reopening tips on each the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico borders.
“I don’t think there has been constructive, serious engagement. This could be done successfully and quickly but it requires a strong will,” Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., told USA TODAY. The congressman, whose district includes Buffalo, New York, has been an outspoken proponent of finding guidelines to ease international travel for border communities.
“The U.S.-Canadian relationship, typically talking, took a serious hit during the last 4 years, and specifically during the last twelve months, for no different motive than the foolish private politics between President Trump and Prime Minister Trudeau,” Higgins said of why negotiations to give certain populations easier cross border travel had not progressed under the Trump administration.
The White House is reportedly eyeing a normalization of both the northern and southern borders in mid-May when vaccines will likely become widely available across North America. Yet, so far there has been no formal announcement of such plans. The uncertainty continues to burden binational families and border communities.
In his first few days in office, Biden also signed executive orders directing federal agencies to work with Canada and Mexico to determine a sound reopening policy for non-essential land travel across both borders, though so far no policy has been released.
“The plan is late. I get that,” Higgins, who has challenged the White House to fully reopen the border by July 4, stated of the present efforts. “I do know from my conversations with individuals on the highest ranges of the Biden administration that they’re taking this critically.”
Weber said that while separated families “admire that there are rumblings from the Biden administration, they’re nonetheless simply rumbling.”
The White House did not return USA TODAY’s request for comment on the border closures.
Other lawmakers who represent border communities have also called for greater travel access for those with family, property and business interests on both sides of the border.
In February, members of the Washington state congressional delegation sent an open letter to Biden urging him to make “safely reopening the United States-Canada border a direct precedence.” On March 11, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, called for an immediate easing of restrictions between the U.S. and Canada.
“I consider that we might implement procedures, corresponding to requiring proof of a current adverse take a look at or vaccination, to start safely loosening the restrictions, which might be helpful to families, the economic system and small companies that depend on Canadian clients,” Collins said.
“I nonetheless assume that that is the United States of America, and we might have put sure safeguards within the border to guard the border group,” Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas stated of the extension of border restrictions between the U.S. and Mexico in February. “There are methods to do that, however they’ve nonetheless but not allowed” full travel across the land border, Cuellar lamented, promising to find “a steadiness between the economic system and the well being of people.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts to discuss border normalization, among other issues. The bipartisan critique of the administration, partly resulting from the diversity of impacted communities, has increased pressure on the administration to act.
It is technically possible for Americans to fly to Canada and Mexico, though Canada requires stringent public health measures before a trip and flights are logistically and financially difficult for families who normally live within driving distance of each other, according to Weber.
Higgins believes that as the U.S. becomes increasingly vaccinated and the pandemic subsides, a reopening of the border makes more sense from an economic and public health standpoint.
“Last 12 months, the United States was the worldwide chief in COVID-19 deaths. This 12 months, we’re the chief in vaccine manufacturing,” Higgins argued.
“As Americans, we had been informed that the inflection level can be the deployment of a vaccine. We wanted a benchmark, a purpose to get again to regular. For us in Western New York and Ontario, a return to regular means reopening the border,” the congressman emphasized.
“We’re not asking for open borders. We are asking to see our families. We are effectively conscious that many individuals within the United States have been in related conditions throughout this pandemic,” Weber stated.
