17th June 2020 – The US Mexican border closure agreement, due to end on June 21st, has once again been extended for another month – the 3rd such extension.

Both the US and Mexico are still struggling to control the spread of COVID-19 with some US states reporting record increases in recent days. In Mexico, it appears as though the country is still some way from even flattening the curve.

Commenting on keeping the Canadian and Mexican borders with the US closed to non-essential travel, acting DHS Chad Wold said: “This extension protects Americans while keeping essential trade and travel flowing as we reopen the American economy.”

Mexico is still reporting huge increases in daily cases and deaths, amongst the worst increases of any country in the world and the Mexican government must surely not be welcoming US citizens anytime soon given its neighbor has more cases of the virus than any other country and many of the southern US states are still firmly under the grip of the Coronavirus. Martha Bárcena told the Politico website that “What we are seeing is a spike in contagions in some southern states of the U.S., including Texas and Arizona, that are linked to Memorial Day, so we are following very closely.” 

The Mexican Foreign Ministry tweeted that the terms of the US Mexico border closure will remain the same as for the previous period.