The request comes as Canada allowed its COVID-19 entry restrictions to expire on October 1. Those restrictions included random testing and vaccine requirements.

U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Congressman Brian Higgins have repeatedly urged the administration to prioritize the reopening of the land border.

Both said the Canadian land border closure placed severe economic strains on the supply chains of New York businesses, hospitals, and medical equipment providers that rely on travel across the northern border to produce essential goods and services.

In October 2021, the Biden administration announced that it would reopen the U.S.-Canada land border to fully vaccinated travelers from Canada.

Earlier this week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it was ending its country-specific COVID-19 travel advisories. Gillibrand and Higgins point to this as further acknowledgement of the changing dynamics of the pandemic and justification for the U.S. to also proceed with the lifting of northern border travel restrictions.