With U.S. restrictions preventing Canadians from crossing the border only hours away from expiring, Washington state Senator Patty Murray once again called for a science-based reopening of the border, particularly for Whatcom County’s isolated Point Roberts.
“We want to reopen the U.S./Canada border as quickly and safely as possible, and I’ve been clear that at the very least we need an exemption for Point Roberts —they are an exclave community, they depend on cross border travel for their local economy,” Murray said in a statement emailed to The Bellingham Herald. “Their businesses are on the brink of shutting down right now and they can’t go on like this.”
Canadians have not been able to cross into Point Roberts or at any other border crossing in Whatcom County or elsewhere in the U.S. for purposes deemed non-essential since March of 2020, when the two countries closed their border in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Essential travel, including trade, has still been allowed between the two countries throughout the 17-month closure.
The border closure was originally set to one month, but each side extended the closure on a month-by-month basis until last month, when Canada announced that it would allow vaccinated Americans who met other requirements to cross the border for “non-essential” purposes beginning Aug. 9.
But the U.S. did not reciprocate, instead extending its restrictions to Aug. 21 and bringing criticism from both sides of the border.
As the restrictions are set to expire on Saturday, word has not come from the U.S. side about what to expect after Saturday.
White House COVID-19 Coordinator, in an Aug. 5 briefing said, “the interagency working groups are currently developing a policy process, and we will be ready when it is the right time to consider reopening travel. And that’ll be guided, as always, by the science and the public health.”
Meanwhile, Canadian towns close to the border are beginning to see some resurgence, according to a story by The Post Star, which highlighted the vibrant changes in Kingston, Ontario, since vaccinated Americans were allowed to cross the border.
“Essentially, for the last year or more the downtown has been dead,” Kingston resident Stuart MacDonald told the Post Star.
And that is what many towns just south of the border are hoping for once American restrictions are loosened.
Point Roberts has been used as an example for the hardships border towns have endured during the border closure, as the small community has been mostly cut off from the rest of Whatcom County due to its location on the tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, forcing two border crossings for journeys by land to other areas within the U.S.
“I have been crystal clear with the administration that we need an exemption for Point Roberts,” Murray told The Herald. “I recently led my colleagues in a letter to DHS (Department of Homeland Security) Secretary Mayorkas calling for an exemption — I’ve been speaking with top White House officials about this, I’ve spoken with senior officials at the State Department as well.
“I appreciate the Administration’s science-based approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and I firmly believe that the evidence supports a narrow and tailored exception to the Administration’s Canadian border closure and a reopening of the Point Roberts port of entry to Canadian travel. I will keep pressing the administration on this until we get this matter resolved.”
Murray has not been alone in her call to reopen the border.
Rep. Rick Larsen’s office reiterating his statement from June in an email to The Herald, saying, “The best way to build back better is to safely reopen the U.S.-Canada border to support residents and small business owners who feel left behind by the administration’s policies.”
Gov. Jay Inslee also has been vocal about reopening the border, saying after the U.S. last extended restrictions in July, “As I have expressed repeatedly in communications with the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security, the time has come to at least partially reopen the U.S.-Canada border, and I will continue to advocate for relief for border communities in Washington state.”
