Biden Didn't Issue New Travel Restrictions for Mexico

Tracy Davenport

Travel

3rd August 2021

He extended already-existing restrictions (Getty Images).

The Claim

President Joe Biden is restricting travel to Mexico.

News posted on

Emerging story

Some on social media are claiming that Biden is restricting travel for Americans to Mexico. Social media users are also claiming that unvaccinated aliens can walk right into the U.S. One of the posts was liked or retweeted over 10,000 times.

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Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar discovered that on March 24, 2020, the Department of Homeland Security published a notice of its decision to temporarily limit the travel of individuals from Mexico into the United States at land ports of entry along the United States-Mexico border to essential travel. On July 22, 2021, the restrictions were extended until August 21, 2021 due to COVID-19 risks. There are exclusions to the restrictions for those participating in essential travel.

Also, the restrictions do not apply to air, freight rail, or sea travel between the United States and Mexico, but do apply to passenger rail, passenger ferry travel, and pleasure boat travel between the United States and Mexico.

As far as undocumented aliens walking right into the U.S., this is also misleading. Federal officials have logged more than 1.1 million apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border this fiscal year according to the Texas Tribune. Customs and Border Protection believe this number may overstate the actual crossings because so many have been expelled into Mexico under a public-health order the Trump administration put in place during the coronavirus pandemic.