DHS Clarifies Temporary US-Canada, and US-Mexico Border Closures: Foreign Workers and Business Travel

As reported last week, the United States announced joint initiatives with Canada and Mexico to close land borders to non-essential travel for at least thirty (30) days in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving ambiguous whether foreign national workers would be exempt from the closures as “essential trade.” The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) has since published formal notices on both initiatives in the national Federal Register clarifying that the closures do not apply to air travel. Thus persons seeking entry to the U.S. via commercial flights arriving from Mexico and Canada are not affected by these closures.