U.S. Extends Border Travel Ban With Canada And Mexico Into September

The nonessential travel ban across U.S. borders with Canada and Mexico was extended Friday by all three countries through Sept. 21.

Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf announced the extension in a Twitter post on Friday, saying the U.S. will continue to work with Canada and Mexico to “slow the spread of #COVID19.” The ban does not apply to essential travel or cargo.

All nonessential travel into the countries "shared land ports” will be limited through Sept. 21, Wolf said in his tweet.

The previous travel ban was in place for the U.S. and Mexico through Aug. 20, and between the U.S. and Canada through Aug. 21. The U.S., Canada and Mexico issued their first travel restriction policies in March as the coronavirus pandemic took hold.

Canada also issued a travel extension with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying in a tweet the measure would be in place until Sept. 21 as the country looks to “keep people in both our countries safe.”

Mexico echoed the announcements from the U.S. and Canada in a tweet, saying the travel restriction would be in place until Sept. 21 at 11:59 p.m.

The U.S. has reported more than 5.2 million positive cases of the coronavirus, with COVID-19 deaths topping 167,000, data from Johns Hopkins University showed. Canada has more than 123,000 positive cases of the coronavirus, with deaths exceeding 9,000, and Mexico has reported more than 505,000 coronavirus cases and more than 55,000 COVID-19 deaths.