Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Brian Higgins, Democrats both, have written to urge President Joe Biden to “reciprocate” Canada’s new COVID-19 border policy.
Gillibrand says businesses, hospitals and medical suppliers in New York have been suffering throughout the pandemic as a result of border restrictions.
Gillibrand is only the latest U.S. lawmaker to put pressure on the Biden administration to lift vaccine rules for visiting foreigners.
Higgins and Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat from Montana, want the Department of Homeland Security to drop the requirement as soon as possible.
“We urge the United States to reciprocate the policy of our Canadian neighbours by easing our own COVID-19 restrictions for the sake of our northern border communities and their economies,” Gillibrand and Higgins write in their letter.
Both Canada and the U.S. have seen “significant declines” in their COVID-19 caseloads and death rates, in part thanks to the work the two countries have done together to manage their shared interests, it reads.
“We believe now is the most opportune moment to ease restrictions that would once again unleash the northern border economy, reunite friends, families, and colleagues across the border, and continue the U.S.-Canada partnership that has been crucial for both of our nations’ successes.”
White House officials will only say that no changes to U.S. land border procedures are imminent.
