Bipartisan Anger as Biden Administration Keeps Border with Canada Closed

Elected officials from both parties are expressing anger over the Biden administration’s decision Wednesday to keep the U.S. border with Canada closed.

Bridge reported:

As the clock ticks down on the summer travel season, Michigan tourist venues will have to wait at least another month before they see visitors from Canada who are vital to their bottom line.

Angering lawmakers from New York to Michigan, the U.S. ban on nonessential travel from Canada will extend through at least Aug. 21, according to a statement Wednesday from the federal Customs and Border Patrol.

“Certainly this makes a big dent in our tourism picture,” Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau spokeswoman Renee Monforton told Bridge.

“Canada is a big market for us, especially for the summer. It hurts.”

“The Biden Administration’s failure to develop a plan to reopen the border between the United States and Canada is not only embarrassing, it highlights President Biden’s inability to lead,” U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) said Wednesday.

“President Biden’s inaction is also stifling the economic recovery of communities in Michigan, New York, and states that share a border with Canada,” he continued, noting the ongoing border closure costs the U.S. economy an estimated $340 million per week.

“Michiganders deserve a President who will fight for them, not one that keeps them separated from their loved ones, lowers their standard of living, and threatens their livelihood,” Huizenga said.

Democrat U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins (D) was equally critical.

“For months now people and businesses along the border have been strung along month after month holding out hope for the border to reopen,” he said, according to Bridge.

Higgins added the Biden administration’s decision “harms economic recovery and hurts families all across America’s northern border; this is completely unnecessary.”

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) was mildly critical of the delayed reopening.

“An open border with our neighbors to the North means families will be reunited once again and much-needed relief for our border communities that depend on cross-border trade and supply chains,” Cuomo said, the Burlington Free Press reported.

Biden ally Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) has been silent on the ongoing federal restrictions harming her state’s economy.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays–download full podcast episodes. Follow him on GETTR.