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.

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 Secretary Chad Wolf (@DHS_Wolf) August 14, 2020

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.”

Update on the Canada-US border: We have agreed to extend the measures in place by another 30 days, until September 21st. We’re taking this step to keep people in both our countries safe - because your health and safety is always our top priority. https://t.co/naYDR55yRa
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) August 14, 2020

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.

Las restricciones se mantendrán en los mismos términos en que se han desarrollado desde su implementación el 21 de marzo.

Ambos países intentarán coordinar las medidas sanitarias en la región fronteriza que estarán vigentes hasta las 23:59 hrs. del 21 de septiembre de 2020.
— Relaciones Exteriores (@SRE_mx) August 14, 2020

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.