NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was in Niagara Falls Wednesday to call on Canada to reopen the border between Canada and the United States.
The closure initially enacted by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on March 16, 2020 has now been extended to May 21, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"There is no reason with so many vaccinated people that the border should be so closed as it is right now. And our government, ours, the U.S. and the Canadian, have got to get together and do this for the good of the millions of people who live along the Canadian border, not just here in Western New York, but throughout the rest of New York State and the whole country," Schumer said on Wednesday.
Now that more people are being vaccinated, Senator Schumer says Canada should open the border to vaccinated Americans who have family, property or business in Canada.
"The monthly extensions, which we've heard, you know, you're read about, heard about every month, have no rhyme or reason," Schumer said. "They confuse people. They don't let people plan. They frustrate thousands of Western New Yorkers and Southern Ontarians who depend on the border crossing, so I am calling on the American and Canadian governments to do four things which will quickly and safely open up this border in a much larger way than it has been opened before."
Those four things are - criteria for opening up the border, allowing certain vaccinated people to cross, allowing boaters to cross if they're not docking, and getting border crossing workers access to testing and vaccines.
For nearly a year, lawmakers have been pushing for the border to be reopened. U.S. Congressman Higgins has called on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to create a plan as well.