Lawmakers urge end to COVID closure that ‘completely halted’ life along U.S.-Canada border

With news that the U.S. and Canada plan to extend the closure of their border another month in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19, a Washington state Congressional delegation led by Rep. Suzan DelBene sent a letter Monday to President Joe Biden urging his administration to work with Canadian officials to safely reopen the border.

The latest extension of the border closure, which was announced Friday, Feb. 19, bans non-essential travel between the two countries until at least March 21 — one year since the border officially closed on March 21, 2020, as the COVID-19 crisis began.