A Democratic lawmaker on the southern border called on the Biden administration to reopen all crossings to nonessential travelers immediately.
Approximately 150 businesses in the Texas border town of Laredo have been forced to close in the 14 months since all ports of entry stopped allowing travelers from Mexico, Rep. Henry Cuellar told Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security Tuesday.
“They lost their businesses. They, they lost their savings,” said Cuellar, whose district stretches roughly 200 miles along the border from the Rio Grande Valley through Laredo and up to Del Rio. “Some of those businesses depend on 30, 40, 50% on the Mexican shoppers. Some of them are asking me, ‘Why is it that the Mexicans can fly in or the undocumented people can come in?’”
The Trump administration, in March 2020, banned recreational and tourist travel at the U.S.-Mexico border, as well as the Canadian border, in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The travel suspensions are at the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which ordered the restrictions and their subsequent renewals each month on the grounds that allowing nonessential travelers, such as tourists, to enter the United States poses a public safety risk.
THOUSANDS OF BRAZILIANS ATTEMPT TO ENTER US ILLEGALLY AT SOUTHERN BORDER
President Joe Biden vowed in his first week in office to look at how to reopen both borders but has stalled, prompting frustration among business owners and lawmakers from border regions. The CDC has yet to announce if its recommendation, the basis for DHS’s response, will continue beyond June, when the existing ban is set to expire.
Cuellar said he has gotten mixed signals from both the CDC and DHS on who is responsible for making the final call.
“Last time I talked to the CDC, they said it was Homeland’s decision,” Cuellar told Mayorkas. “And you’re telling me that it’s CDC.”
Mayorkas said the administration is monitoring the economic effect of the closure on a daily basis and “will not restrict travel one day more than the public health imperative requests.”
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The only exceptions to the travel limitations include U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents returning to the U.S., people traveling for medical reasons, people going to school, people who work in the farming or agriculture industries, emergency and public health officials, members of the U.S. military, and commercial employees involved in cross-border trade.
