No Pressure to Open Border, Biden Official Says; Reports Surface of Potential U.S. Reopening
May 27, 2021 ctn_admin
The United States hasn’t made any decision about how or when to reopen the border with Canada, a White House spokesperson said today (May 27).
A published report in Washington state quoted U.S. Border Patrol sources as saying the U.S. would open its border with Canada on June 22.
But CTV says White House press secretary denied reports suggesting American patience with the closure has run its course.
Psaki said she was not aware that any decisions had been made about the border beyond last week’s news that the restrictions, which have been in place since March 2020 and allow only essential travel to cross the border, would be extended to June 21.
“I don’t think a decision has been made, that I’m aware of, about what would happen after that.”
CP24 said officials in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office did not explicitly confirm or deny the report, “pointing instead to his insistence that it would take 75 per cent of Canadians getting vaccinated before restrictions can be lifted.”
Roughly 61 per cent of Canadians have had their first dose already, and more vaccines are arriving every day.
“Conversations are ongoing constantly with the U.S. administration because there is much eagerness to get back to normal on all sides,” Trudeau said today.
The Prime Minister said the first step is to wrestle our COVID numbers down to where minor flare-ups can be managed more effectively and tamped down before they spread. The second step would be to reach that 75 per cent vaccination threshold.
“Getting the vaccination numbers up above 75 per cent across the country is going to allow for a much better posture on reopening, including around what we do with the U.S. border and international borders,” the PM said.
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