King presses case for opening US border to vaccinated Canadians — in cars

As U.S. restrictions are eased for vaccinated international air travelers from 33 countries including most of Europe, U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, is making a fresh case for allowing vaccinated Canadians into the country.

He sent his plea in a Sept. 24 letter to President Joe Biden, following the president's decision to ease restrictions for vaccinated international visitors arriving by air, starting in November.

"While I applaud this decision, which will strengthen our nation's economy while protecting our people from the lingering threat of COVID-19, I urge you to also extend this logic to allow fully vaccinated Canadians who meet the same criteria to travel across the U.S.-Canada border by car," King writes.

King went on to say that while Canadians may fly to the U.S. under current regulations, that is not usually practical for most visits to Maine.

For example, he notes that someone wanting to go from neighboring Fredericton, New Brunswick, to Presque Isle today would have to first take a three-hour flight to Boston and then drive six hours north to Presque Isle, while a straight drive would be less than two hours.

That places an unnecessary burden on visitors and deters fully vaccinated Canadians from making the trip, "further hurting our local economies and adding yet another challenge for local small businesses still reeling from the effects of the pandemic," King wrote. He urged the president to reopen the U.S. border with Canada "as soon as possible."

Last week, eight U.S. lawmakers including King made a similar plea, asking Biden to begin allowing vaccinated Canadians to travel to the United States through land ports of entry by October.

Canada opened its border to vaccinated Americans in August, but the U.S. government extended its ban on nonessential travel from Canada.

The land border between the United States and Canada was closed on March 21, 2020, at the start of the pandemic, complicating life for families, tourists and businesses, particularly in border towns like Houlton, in Aroostook County.