Politics

US And Canada Extend Border Closure For Another Month

HERTFORD, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) ad Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) attend the NATO summit at the Grove Hotel on December 4, 2019 in Watford, England. France and the UK signed the Treaty of Dunkirk in 1947 in the aftermath of WW2 cementing a mutual alliance in the event of an attack by Germany or the Soviet Union. The Benelux countries joined the Treaty and in April 1949 expanded further to include North America and Canada followed by Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. This new military alliance became the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The organisation grew with Greece and Turkey becoming members and a re-armed West Germany was permitted in 1955. This encouraged the creation of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact delineating the two sides of the Cold War. This year marks the 70th anniversary of NATO. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

(Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
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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.

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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.”

HERTFORD, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 04: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) ad Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) attend the NATO summit at the Grove Hotel on December 4, 2019 in Watford, England. France and the UK signed the Treaty of Dunkirk in 1947 in the aftermath of WW2 cementing a mutual alliance in the event of an attack by Germany or the Soviet Union. The Benelux countries joined the Treaty and in April 1949 expanded further to include North America and Canada followed by Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. This new military alliance became the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The organisation grew with Greece and Turkey becoming members and a re-armed West Germany was permitted in 1955. This encouraged the creation of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact delineating the two sides of the Cold War. This year marks the 70th anniversary of NATO. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

HERTFORD, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 04: U.S. President Donald Trump (L) ad Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) attend the NATO summit at the Grove Hotel on December 4, 2019 in Watford, England. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

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.