MASSENA, N.Y. — New York plans to begin lifting many COVID restrictions on May 19 due to increasing vaccination rates and falling COVID infections.

Knowing that, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) thinks it is time to reopen New York’s northern border with Canada.

Speaking May 5 at the Massena International Airport, Schumer called on the U.S. and Canadian governments and public-health officials to develop a plan for reopening the border between the nations.

He told the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security that the reopening plan should be “based on data, science and common sense.”

Since March 2020, Americans and Canadians on both sides of the border have “grown frustrated with the endless cycle” of month-by-month closure extensions and the “lack of transparency on which they’re decided,” Schumer’s office said. 

With the current moratorium on non-essential traffic set to expire on May 21, and vaccination rates rising on both sides of the border, Schumer urged the relevant parties to come to an agreement “as soon as possible” on how and when to allow for increased cross border travel to avoid the loss of another summer season and hundreds of millions in cross-border dollars.

Schumer explained the Thousand Islands-St. Lawrence Seaway region’s economy is “deeply integrated” with the Canadian economy. Each year, more than 2.3 million Canadian travelers enter the U.S. through three ports of entry in Jefferson and St. Lawrence counties. 

However in 2020, border crossings were down 98 percent in Alexandria Bay and Ogdensburg and off more than 50 percent in Massena. The continued closure of the northern border has contributed to “significant” revenue loss for businesses in both nations, but also presents “significant logistical problems” for those with interests on the other side of the border.

Specific requests

Specifically, Schumer requested that a binational agreement on reopening criteria be established and disclosed to the public without delay.

Second, Schumer pushed for a re-evaluation and expansion of the essential-travel designation. With New York vaccination rates going up every day, Schumer stated that American and Canadian citizens with familial, educational, medical, educational, and property interests should be considered essential travelers if they’ve undertaken their civic responsibility to get vaccinated.

Schumer also stressed the importance of recreational and commercial boating in the waters along the border. Currently, American and Canadian boaters are not able to cross the border by water, even if they have no intention of stopping at a port of entry.

The senator also urged the federal government to provide any “necessary” support to Customs and Border Protection officers and other federal personnel along the northern border.