Mexico-US Border Restrictions
Continue Until at Least September 21st
The Mexico-US land border remains closed to all but "essential travel". What is considered essential and non-essential travel?
The land border restrictions due to Covid-19 announced on March 21, 2020 have been extended again. Crossings at the land ports of entry between the United States and Mexico will be restricted to “essential crossings" only until at least September 21st, 2021.
Air travel between the United States and Mexico remains unchanged as unrestricted. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the extension on August 2oth.
What is considered “Essential Travel”
According to a Notification by the US Federal Register, “essential travel” (permitted crossings), includes but is not limited to:
U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents returning to the United States;
Individuals traveling for medical purposes (e.g., to receive medical treatment in the United States);
Individuals traveling to attend educational institutions;
Individuals traveling to work in the United States (e.g., individuals working in the farming or agriculture industry who must travel between the United States and Mexico in furtherance of such work);
Individuals traveling for emergency response and public health purposes (e.g., government officials or emergency responders entering the United States to support federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial government efforts to respond to COVID-19 or other emergencies);
Individuals engaged in lawful cross-border trade (e.g., truck drivers supporting the movement of cargo between the United States and Mexico);
Individuals engaged in official government travel or diplomatic travel;
Members of the U.S. Armed Forces, and the spouses and children of members of the U.S. Armed Forces, returning to the United States; and
Individuals engaged in military-related travel or operations.
Travel prohibited today
According to the official Notice, the following travel does not fall within the definition of “essential travel”:
Individuals traveling for tourism purposes (e.g., sightseeing, recreation, gambling, or attending cultural events).
This includes shopping trips and family visits.
Flights are not affected, yet…
The Notification does not apply to air, freight rail, or sea travel between the United States and Mexico.
But sea and rail travel are affected
Restrictions will apply to passenger rail, passenger ferry travel, and pleasure boat travel between the United States and Mexico.
These restrictions are temporary and shall remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. EDT on February 21st, 2021. They may be amended or rescinded prior to that time, based on circumstances associated with the specific threat.
Some advice
Consult with the proper authorities before traveling to avoid inconveniences with your travel plans. This includes hotels and airlines. It might just help you elude quarantining in your hotel room alone while searching for how to defeat Coronavirus (Covid-19) anxiety.
Also, look into this post to see how the festivities for the Day of the Dead in Mexico will be affected before coming here. Because most festivities are still in the planning stage and some are looking into the possibility of doing them virtually.
Or maybe you are planning on spending time in some other part of Mexico during the pandemic. Then I suggest you look at Coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in Mexico by State.