The United States and Canada are extending the closure of their shared border for an additional 30 days.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau first announced the second extension Tuesday morning. The current travel restrictions were set to expire later this week and only apply to non-essential travel.
WATCH:
#BREAKING: PM Justin Trudeau says Canada and the US have agreed to extend border closure measures for another 30 days. #covid19canada pic.twitter.com/JW6dAPXuts
— Kamil Karamali (@KamilKaramali) May 19, 2020
President Donald Trump further confirmed the extension while speaking to reporters at the White House. He added that the extension still applies to non-essential trade in addition to travel, before stating that “ss things clean up in terms of the plague, we’re both going to want to get back to normal.”
Trump and Trudeau had previously discussed militarizing the shared border, an idea Trudeau reportedly heavily opposed. (RELATED: ‘Entirely Unnecessary’: Canada Urges Trump Not To Send Troops To The Border)
“We really do not believe at all that there would be a public health justification for you to take this action,” Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at the time. “We really don’t think is the right way to treat a trusted friend and military ally.”
Trump sent roughly 500 troops to the southern border in March.
“I can confirm that the border RFA has been approved — this happened last night. 540 personnel to the SW border, performing the same kinds of duties already being performed there,” Christian Mitchell, a Pentagon spokesperson, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Intent is to plus up numbers a bit to help DHS deal with COVID concerns.”
The White House and Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Daily Caller’s inquiries on the subject.