US-Canada Border To Open Soon For Immediate Families

[Fradi]

It seems like I am the only person going to bat for these people, which is appalling.

You are the only one that seems to have this patriotic pride that Americans can do no wrong and feel insulted that they are being banned from entering.
They are also banned from all of the EU we are not the only ones that see the shit show going on south of us.
If you can’t control 44 states what assurance do we have that these 6 states can control their borders from the other 44 and why would we be policing people to make sure they are only from those 6 states.

Nobody likes this, we would all love to have the border open and we are not anti American.
We all need the huge boost to the economy of having Americans here, I would love to see my American relatives and friends.
Get your politicians to at least follow the lead of what the best countries have done or even your sensational six, get your shit together so that we can all see and visit each other.

 

[EagerBeaver]

It's just drama and overreaction instead of developing a sensible approach to allowing a reopening of the border. Nobody here seems interested in solving problems with proportional as opposed to thoughtless all or nothing approaches.

I also find the posts in this thread enormously insensitive not only to small businesses involved in the tourist industry, but also the US and Canadian Customs employees who work at the border. Have any of you actually considered what these people are doing right now? Reopening of the border means they probably go from being laid off like a seasonal employee to having their full time jobs back. In the interim how are these people feeding their families? The callousness of this thread is showcased by noting I am the only person in this thread who has posted about, or probably even thought about these poor bastards.

 

[IamNY]

Going to bat for the small business owner is going to be tough. If I was sitting in Canada with the coronavirus being tamed I don't think I would want to open it up to the USA as a country that for now isn't doing all that well. Being part of the Sensational 6 States I can absolutely relate to what your saying. But being from NY I can also see how I personally would have no interest in letting in people from the southern states that are struggling now even if it meant that small businesses would have to struggle. Things can change greatly from month to month so hopefully small businesses won't have to suffer for much longer. As far as the summer vacation income, that's gone, it's a complete loss. People should be doing what you and myself are doing, vacation in the states or your own country and try to help out that way. Other than that, we wait and see.

 

[Zaeballo]

There would be no palpable impact (other than improving the Quebec economy) by allowing negatively tested persons coming in from the Sensational 6 States.

I am just curious, if a person has been (recently) negatively tested, what does it matter what state she is from? Except, that is, to reward the states that mismanaged the disease most atrociously.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Zaebello,

Canada shouldn't be involved in trying to reward or punish States. Its objectives should be: (1) public health and safety and (2) preserving the integrity and vitality of its economy. A negatively tested person within 72 hours, from any State, probably poses less of a threat to public safety than any untested Canadians who are walking around Montreal and are potential carriers. And that negative tested American tourist and others like him will pump money into local hotels, restaurants, and other businesses who need the revenue. This is all common sense. However common sense isn't being allowed to prevail. Mass hysteria is.

 

[Zaeballo]

Zaebello,
......
A negatively tested person within 72 hours, from any State, probably poses less of a threat to public safety than any untested Canadians who are walking around Montreal and are potential carriers.

Egaer Baever,

That actually makes some sense. Isn't it time to dispense with that "Sensational States" nonsense then?

 

[EagerBeaver]

Egaer Baever,

That actually makes some sense. Isn't it time to dispense with that "Sensational States" nonsense then?

It's the Sensational 6 States. You may call it nonsense, but it's Maine's rule, and it's currently the strictest quarantine rule in place at the moment in the USA. It's not nonsense given that reality. Are there better and worse approaches? Perhaps.

 

[IamNY]

This came up on the golf course this morning. What are the college students going to do that cross the border for their education? There are many Canadians that go to school in the states. I was thinking that when the August 21st date approaches instead of simply extending the border closure they would make some sort of rule for college students. Or we can have the stay the fuck in your own country attitude I guess, but this effects many students and I would hate for them to get fucked out of an education over this.

 

[EagerBeaver]

What are the college students going to do that cross the border for their education? There are many Canadians that go to school in the states.

The lawsuit brought by Harvard and MIT, and backed by UConn (and 56 other universities) and the Connecticut Attorney General succeeded and the DHS and ICE backed off on their policy of stripping visas from foreign students who did not appear for in person studies:

DHS and ICE Rescind Policy Barring International Students Taking Online Courses | News | The Harvard Crimson

The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have agreed to rescind a policy that would bar international students taking online-only courses from residing in the United States, federal judge Allison D. Burroughs announced at a hearing on Tuesday.

www.thecrimson.com

The UConn women's basketball has 3 key foreign players, and one of them is a Canadian girl from Ontario that plays on the Canadian national team. The other 2 foreign girls are a girl from Poland who started as a freshman and is the team's best 3 point shooter, and a freshman from Croatia. Without these 3 foreign girls, UConn's roster would be down to their 7 American players, 3 of whom are untested but highly rated freshman.

With their full compliment of players, UConn figures to be among the top 3 ranked women's teams in the country, along with South Carolina and Baylor.

 

[IamNY]

I know that many of the Division 1 lacrosse schools in the US have Canadian players, hopefully they don't get screwed.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Not to mention hockey. I count 6 Canadians on UConn's men's hockey team, including 1 from Montreal:

2024-25 Men's Ice Hockey Roster - University of Connecticut Athletics

The official 2024-25 Men's Ice Hockey Roster for the University of Connecticut Huskies

uconnhuskies.com

They also have a lot of Eurodudes on the team, in fact more Eurodudes than Canadians.

 

[minutemenX]

There are express tests available that can give the answer within 30 min. They are less accurate than conventional but have close to 90% accuracy. This is much better than any 3 days old test with higher accuracy. It can be implemented on the border without much hassle and expenses charged to visitors. When there is the will there is the way. But politicians prefer to play games collecting points from “patriots” on both sides of the border.

 

[fromtheoutside]

What are the college students going to do that cross the border for their education?

Canadians have always been able to enter the US during the border closing and Canadian students are no exception. International students (US students) are on the exception list to enter Canada as long as they have a valid study permit that was issued before March 18, 2020.

 

[Fradi]

Canada shouldn't be involved in trying to reward or punish States. Its objectives should be: (1) public health and safety and (2) preserving the integrity and vitality of its economy.

This is a fabulous idea, perhaps you could change Canada to United States and forward a copy of this to every politician of the 44 states running the shit show that is going on now.

btw in my book any person on the other side of the border is even far less of a threat than someone who has a negative test report within 72 hrs in fact they are no threat at all, you can’t get better than that now can you.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Canadians have always been able to enter the US during the border closing and Canadian students are no exception.

This is not true:

US border closures with Canada and Mexico to be extended another month, officials say | CNN Politics

Nonessential travel between the US and its two closest neighbors -- Canada and Mexico -- is expected remain blocked until at least late August amid spikes in confirmed coronavirus cases in large swaths of the US.

www.cnn.com

Here is a July 1 video interview with UConn basketball coach Geno Auriemma in which he discussed the dilemma involved in getting his 3 foreign players (including one Canadian) back into the USA. He specifically refers to Canadian forward Aaliyah Edwards from Kingston, Ontario, not being able to get to Storrs:

 

[fromtheoutside]

This is not true:

It is true. These articles that constantly get posted address the land crossings. I was merely addressing the concern of getting into the US, not the method of doing so. As long as Canadians fly, they have always been able to enter the US. Geno was relatively vague in his concerns, so hard for me to address them all, but his specific statement about Aaliyah was true in that she cannot get into a car and drive across the border. But she can fly. So if it's that important for her to play, her team or her family should arrange for a flight.

https://www.richmond-news.com/news/...-to-the-u-s-by-air-during-covid-19-1.24164798

And for US students entering Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...n-workers-students.html#restrictions-students

 

[gll]

It is true. These articles that constantly get posted address the land crossings. I was merely addressing the concern of getting into the US, not the method of doing so. As long as Canadians fly, they have always been able to enter the US. Geno was relatively vague in his concerns, so hard for me to address them all, but his specific statement about Aaliyah was true in that she cannot get into a car and drive across the border. But she can fly. So if it's that important for her to play, her team or her family should arrange for a flight.

https://www.richmond-news.com/news/...-to-the-u-s-by-air-during-covid-19-1.24164798

And for US students entering Canada:

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigratio...n-workers-students.html#restrictions-students

Wow, didnt know this. Rather shocking.

 

[IamNY]

The US was barring foreign students if their US colleges (like most) went to online teaching. It sort of makes sense that if your schools classes are online there's really no need to be in the country. Their visa's were going to be revoked. This just changed, but there probably will be visa issues in the future:

ICE Agrees To Rescind Policy Barring Foreign Students From Online Study In The U.S.

A federal judge announced on Tuesday that ICE has reached an agreement with schools that sued it over the rule change. The directive will now be rescinded nationwide.

www.npr.org

 

[EagerBeaver]

Correct, the reason (regardless of being able to fly) they couldn't get into the country is visa issues. However the lawsuit brought by Harvard, MIT, UConn and other universities forced DHS and ICE to change their policies on online classes. I think that was the issue with the UConn students not being able to get visas- UConn hadn't committed to any plan involving in person instruction. So as a result until this turnabout Aaliyah Edwards and the other Canadian student athletes couldn't get their student visas approved regardless of whether they could fly to the USA. I thought that point was made clear by the prior article I posted in this thread.

Now that issue seems to be resolved but there still could be individual case by case student visa issues. Nika Muhl couldn't get her visa renewed because the US Embassy in Croatia wasn't open, apparently because of Covid. These kinds of logistical issues still exist.

 

[IamNY]

Correct. Finding a way to bypass the border closure wasn’t what we were talking about. Students and their visa issues will be a big problem going forward.