The Mexico-United States land border will remain off-limits to nonessential crossings for another month, until January 21.
The border has been closed due to Covid-19 concerns since March 21, when it was shut down for one month. The closure has been extended every month since then.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Twitter Friday that given the situation with the coronavirus in both countries, it had asked the United States to cooperate in continuing the ban on nonessential crossings until January.
“After reviewing the development of the propagation of Covid-19 and due to the various states found to be at the color orange on the coronavirus stoplight system, we have asked for an extension of one month of the restrictions on nonessential land travel on our common border,” the ministry said. “The restrictions will be maintained under the same terms as since its implementation on March 21.”
Despite the closure, the Mexican government’s Programa Paisano, which provides support and information to Mexicans living in the U.S. and Canada as they travel back to Mexico, recently said it was expecting 500,000 Mexican nationals to arrive home for visits this month.
Nonessential air-travel between the two countries is still permitted as it has been throughout the land border closure, and crossing by land for reasons of work, business or emergencies is also permitted. Those who cross into either country are potentially subject to health screenings and requests to quarantine.
“This year, holiday celebrations have to be moderated so that in the future we can return to the happiness that characterizes them and so that the family members that we love so much remain with us,” said Edgar Ramírez, an attaché to the Department of Homeland Security at the U.S. Embassy.
“A global pandemic is not the time to go shopping, to take trips or visit your family on the other side of the border,” he said. “And illegal immigration in these times of the pandemic, and putting yourself in the hands of traffickers, is not a solution but a bad decision.”
Mexico has recorded 112,326 deaths due to Covid-19. This week, the U.S. broke a record with 3,202 Covid deaths in a single day, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
