Travelers wearing masks and protective gear wait in line to exit Terminal 1 at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City, May 13, 2020.
The White House issued a presidential executive order on Monday (Jan. 18) saying the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump (Trump) is lifting the travel ban on most non-U.S. citizens arriving from Europe and Brazil to the United States, effective Jan. 26; however, the travel bans on China and Iran remain in place.
The news was first reported by Reuters.
Reuters reported that the Trump administration had been considering lifting travel restrictions imposed early last year in response to the outbreak after gaining the support of members of the Coronavirus (Chinese Communist Virus, COVID-19) Working Group and public health officials back in November of last year.
According to a new announcement issued by Trump, the removal of travel restrictions will take effect the same day as the implementation of new testing requirements for all international travelers for the CCP virus.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adopted a policy last Tuesday (12) that requires nearly all air travelers to show a negative test for the CCP virus or proof of recovery from the CCP virus to enter the U.S. starting Jan. 26.
The revoked travel restrictions from 26 include a ban on entry for nearly all non-U.S. citizens who have traveled to Brazil, the United Kingdom, Ireland and 26 countries in the European Schengen area within the past 14 days.
The White House executive order explains that the vast majority of travelers to the U.S. from these areas entered by air. Because public health officials in these countries/areas have been cooperating with the United States in sharing accurate and timely data on CDC virus detection and trends, “there is a high degree of confidence that these jurisdictions will cooperate with the United States in implementing the CDC’s January 12, 2021 order and that the (passenger) testing conducted there will produce accurate results.”
However, the Trump administration continues to retain the travel bans on China and Iran because it believes that the Chinese Communist Party and Iran cannot be trusted.
“This cooperation (between the U.S. and other countries) stands in stark contrast to China (Communist Party of China) and Iran, whose governments and state-owned enterprises refuse to cooperate with U.S. public health authorities and (who never) share timely and accurate information about the spread of the virus. These countries’ responses to the epidemic – given the lack of transparency and lack of cooperation – make us question their cooperation in implementing the CDC’s Jan. 12, 2021, order.” The executive order says.
President Trump will leave office on Wednesday (20), the same day Biden will be sworn in.
The U.S. travel ban on China went into effect back in January 2020, restrictions on entry for most European visitors have been in place since mid-March, and Brazil’s entry ban went into effect in May.
Marty Cetron, director of the CDC’s global immigration and quarantine division, told Reuters last Tuesday (12) that the past entry ban was an “opening response” to the spread of the virus and should now be “aggressively reconsidered.
Airlines also hope the new testing requirements will clear the way for the government to lift travel restrictions, which have already reduced travel to the U.S. from European countries by 95 percent or more. In recent days, they have pressed White House officials on the issue.
Reuters reports that many administration officials have discussed for months that the restrictions no longer make sense given that most countries are not subject to the entry ban. But others have argued that the U.S. should not abandon the entry ban because many European countries are still preventing most U.S. citizens from entering the country.
New President Joe Biden has the option to reimpose the travel restrictions when he takes office on the 20th.
Biden’s spokesman Jen Psaki tweeted Monday night (18), “As the outbreak worsens and more variants of the infection emerge around the world, now is not the time to lift international travel restrictions.
“Based on the recommendations of our medical team, the (Biden) administration does not intend to lift these restrictions on Jan. 26. In fact, we plan to strengthen public health measures for international travel to further reduce the spread of the CCP virus.”
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