Biden to reverse Trump order lifting travel bans
Print Edition
US President-elect Joe Biden plans to quickly extend travel restrictions barring travel by most people who have recently been in much of Europe and Brazil soon after incumbent President Donald Trump lifted those requirements effective from January 26, a spokesperson for Biden said.
Trump signed an order on Monday raising the restrictions he imposed early last year in response to the pandemic after winning support from coronavirus task force members and public health officials.
Soon after Trump’s order was made public, Biden spokesperson Jen Psaki tweeted “on the advice of our medical team, the Administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on 1/26.”
She added that “With the pandemic worsening, and more contagious variants emerging around the world, this is not the time to be lifting restrictions on international travel.”
Until Biden acts, Trump’s order ends restrictions the same day that new COVID-19 test requirements take effect for all international visitors.
Trump is due to leave office today.
Last week, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention signed an order requiring nearly all air travelers to present a negative coronavirus test or proof of recovery from COVID-19 to enter the United States from January 26.
The restrictions Trump rescinded barred nearly all non-US citizens who within the past 14 days had been in Brazil, the UK, Ireland and the 26 countries of the Schengen area in Europe that allow open travel across borders.
The US restrictions barring most visitors from Europe have been in place since mid-March, while the Brazilian ban was imposed in May.
“In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures around international travel in order to further mitigate the spread of COVID-19,” Psaki said.
The Biden transition did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
Last Tuesday, Marty Cetron, director of the CDC’s global migration and quarantine division, said the entry bans were an “opening act strategy” to address the virus spread and should now be “actively reconsidered.”
Airlines had hoped the new testing requirements would clear the way for the administration to lift the restrictions cutting travel from some European countries by 95 percent or more.
Many administration officials for months argued the restrictions no longer made sense given most countries were not subject to the entry bans. Others have argued the US should not drop entry bans since many European countries still block most US citizens.
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