Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – (WOODVILLE, TX) – U.S. Congressman Brian Babin (TX-36) led 21 Members of Congress in a letter urging DHS Acting Secretary, Chad Wolf, to reexamine cross border “essential travel” COVID-19 guidelines and to swiftly close any exploited travel loopholes:
“With continued surges in COVID-19 cases in states and localities along the southern border, I am concerned that more must be done to ensure that non-essential travel restrictions currently in place are adhered to,” said Babin. “We need to focus efforts on common-sense measures to help mitigate the spread of this highly contagious virus at the border immediately.”
From the letter:
“While we were pleased that DHS extended the restrictions for non-essential travel at our southern border until August 21, 2020, we believe more must be done to ensure that this policy is properly enforced and not subject to any loopholes. We fear that overly broad exemptions regarding what is deemed “essential travel” are impeding efforts to contain the spread of the virus, flooding our health care system along the border with medical tourists, and are intrinsically linked to an uptick in COVID-19 cases along the U.S.-Mexico border. We urge you to pay renewed attention to this matter immediately…”
“Our policies are only as good as their enforcement, and we cannot afford to undermine their effectiveness – especially with lives, resources, and the wellbeing of our nation on the line.”
For the full letter, and list of co-signers, please click here.
