BUFFALO (WBEN) - Not that this move comes as any shock, but the Canada - United States border closure has now been extended until December 21, and there's a very strong possibility the border won't be open for several more months.
Immigration attorney Jamie Fiegel believes the border will likely be closed until one of two things occur: there's strong evidence that an effective vaccine is being distributed to a majority of people, or there's a return to warmer weather.
Fiegel added that the Canadian government is starting to crack down on quarantining and discretionary travel even more than they already were, but they're also making exceptions for individuals who are family members and extended family members.
"Those (exceptions) would come with quarantine, but it shows that the Canadian government is really in for the long haul on this, that they're making those exceptions realizing that family is being separated from one another," said Fiegel.
For much of the pandemic, it appeared the numbers in the United States were the main issue in resolving the border issue, but COVID rates in Canada are now starting to surge as well.
"It's not just affecting U.S-Canadian travel, it's affecting any other country into Canada," Fiegel continued. "Because of the restrictions where there are so many countries that cannot come into Canada at this point, with no one under just a visitor status, I read a statistic the other day that tourism into Canada is down 95%."
At this point, it doesn't appear plausible that the border has any chance to reopen on December 21, so why does the closure extension continue to be a month-to-month decision as opposed to simply revisiting the issue in a few months? Fiegel said there are two schools of thought.
"The Canadian officials have differed in their views on how to handle it," she began. "Some say (the border) should be closed for a longer period of time and be more realistic, but other elected officials are saying that just scares everybody and puts everyone off for a really long period of time, and they'd rather have the opportunity to continue to re-evaluate the situation as things continue to unfold."
