The Ministry of Foreign Relations (SRE) announced that the governments of Mexico and the United States extended the restrictions on non-essential land traffic on their common border for an additional 30 days, due to the continued spread of COVID-19 in both countries.
These measures were imposed in mid-March by the authorities of both countries and renewed in May, when the first term set for the closure of the 3,000 kilometers of the Mexican-American border was to expire.
The second term extended the travel restrictions until 11:59 pm June 22, 2020, but now the two nations “have agreed to extend restrictions on non-essential land traffic on their common border for another thirty days, after reviewing the development of the spread of COVID-19 in Mexico and the United States,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The restrictions will remain in the same terms in which they have been developed since their implementation on March 21. Both countries will continue to coordinate sanitary conditions in the border region. The measures will be in force until July 21, 2020.”
In practical terms, the restrictions mean that U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents who go to Mexico on business or for some sort of emergency can cross the border back into the United States, but foreign visa holders mostly cannot.
Commercial traffic continues to flow between the two countries, but merchants in border cities who depend on tourism are hurting.
The extension against “non-essential” travel also applies to the U.S.-Canada border, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said.
“Based on the success of the existing restrictions and the emergence of additional global COVID-19 hotspots, the Department will continue to limit non-essential travel at our land ports of entry with Canada and Mexico,” DHS Acting Sec. Chad Wolf said in a statement.
Sources: Mexico News Blog • El Paso Times