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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 181 / Wednesday, September 22, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
over 40.3 million confirmed and probable cases within the United States,4 over 1.5 million confirmed cases in Canada,5 and over 3.4 million confirmed cases in Mexico.6
DHS also notes that the Delta variant continues to drive an increase in cases, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States.7 Canada and Mexico are also seeing increased case counts and deaths.8
Notice of Action Given the outbreak and continued transmission and spread of COVID19
within the United States and globally, the Secretary has determined that the risk of continued transmission and spread of the virus associated with COVID19 between the United States and Canada poses an ongoing specific threat to human life or national interests.
In March 2020, U.S. and Canadian officials mutually determined that nonessential travel between the United States and Canada posed additional risk of transmission and spread of the virus associated with COVID19 and placed the populace of both nations at increased risk of contracting the virus associated with COVID19. Given the sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus, coupled with risks posed by new variants, nonessential travel to the United States places the personnel staffing land ports of entry between the United States and Canada, as well as the individuals traveling through these ports of entry, at increased risk of exposure to the virus associated with COVID19.
Accordingly, and consistent with the authority granted in 19 U.S.C.
available at https www.who.int/emergencies/
diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports accessed Sept. 9, 2021.
4 CDC, COVID Data Tracker: United States COVID19 Cases, Deaths, and Laboratory Testing NAATs by State, Territory, and Jurisdiction, https covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/cases_
casesper100klast7days accessed Sept. 9, 2021.
5 WHO, Situation by Region, Country, Territory &
Area, available at https covid19.who.int/table accessed Sept. 9, 2021.
6 Id.
7 See CDC, Delta Variant: What We Know About the Science, https www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/
2019-ncov/variants/delta-variant.html accessed Sept. 9, 2021.
8 See Government of Canada, Coronavirus Disease COVID19 For Health Professionals, https
health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/
epidemiological-summary-covid-19cases.htmlVOC accessed Sept. 9, 2021. See Government of Mexico, Ministry of Health, COVID
19 National General Information, https
datos.covid-19.conacyt.mx/DOView accessed Aug. 16, 2021; Mexican Consortium of Genomic Surveillance CoViGen-Mex, Reportes, http
mexcov2.ibt.unam.mx:8080/COVID-TRACKER/
accessed Sept. 9, 2021.

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1318b1C and b2,9 I have determined that land ports of entry along the U.S.-Canada border will continue to suspend normal operations and will only allow processing for entry into the United States of those travelers engaged in essential travel, as defined below. Given the definition of essential travel below, this temporary alteration in land ports of entry operations should not interrupt legitimate trade between the two nations or disrupt critical supply chains that ensure food, fuel, medicine, and other critical materials reach individuals on both sides of the border.
For purposes of the temporary alteration in certain designated ports of entry operations authorized under 19
U.S.C. 1318b1C and b2, travel through the land ports of entry and ferry terminals along the United StatesCanada border shall be limited to essential travel, which 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 Canada 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 9 19 U.S.C. 1318b1C provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Secretary of the Treasury, when necessary to respond to a national emergency declared under the National Emergencies Act 50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.
or to a specific threat to human life or national interests, is authorized to take any . . . action that may be necessary to respond directly to the national emergency or specific threat. On March 1, 2003, certain functions of the Secretary of the Treasury were transferred to the Secretary of Homeland Security. See 6 U.S.C. 2022, 2031.
Under 6 U.S.C. 212a1, authorities related to Customs revenue functions were reserved to the Secretary of the Treasury. To the extent that any authority under section 1318b1 was reserved to the Secretary of the Treasury, it has been delegated to the Secretary of Homeland Security. See Treas.
Dept Order No. 10016 May 15, 2003, 68 FR
28322 May 23, 2003. Additionally, 19 U.S.C.
1318b2 provides that notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commissioner of U.S.
Customs and Border Protection, when necessary to respond to a specific threat to human life or national interests, is authorized to close temporarily any Customs office or port of entry or take any other lesser action that may be necessary to respond to the specific threat. Congress has vested in the Secretary of Homeland Security the functions of all officers, employees, and organizational units of the Department, including the Commissioner of CBP. 6 U.S.C. 112a3.

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support federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial government efforts to respond to COVID19 or other emergencies;
Individuals engaged in lawful crossborder trade e.g., truck drivers supporting the movement of cargo between the United States and Canada;
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 militaryrelated travel or operations.
The following travel does not fall within the definition of essential travel for purposes of this Notification Individuals traveling for tourism purposes e.g., sightseeing, recreation, gambling, or attending cultural events.
At this time, this Notification does not apply to air, freight rail, or sea travel between the United States and Canada, but does apply to passenger rail, passenger ferry travel, and pleasure boat travel between the United States and Canada. These restrictions are temporary in nature and shall remain in effect until 11:59 p.m. EDT on October 21, 2021. This Notification may be amended or rescinded prior to that time, based on circumstances associated with the specific threat. In coordination with public health and medical experts, DHS
continues working closely with its partners across the United States and internationally to determine how to safely and sustainably resume normal travel.
The Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP is hereby directed to prepare and distribute appropriate guidance to CBP personnel on the continued implementation of the temporary measures set forth in this Notification. The CBP Commissioner may determine that other forms of travel, such as travel in furtherance of economic stability or social order, constitute essential travel under this Notification. Further, the CBP
Commissioner may, on an individualized basis and for humanitarian reasons or for other purposes in the national interest, permit the processing of travelers to the United States not engaged in essential travel.
Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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