Gov. Gianforte Calls on Biden to Reopen Canadian Border

UPDATE: On Wednesday, the Biden Administration took the first steps to reopen the northern border by allowing vaccinated Canadians into the U.S. starting in November. It would remain closed to the unvaccinated.

Governor Greg Gianforte continues to push the Biden Administration to reopen the Canadian border, noting the disparity with the Mexican Border which is virtually wide open to unvaccinated and undocumented foreign nationals who have been flooding across.

"It is a tragic irony that the southern border is open and the northern border is closed," Gianforte told The Courier over the phone last Friday. "I visited Scobey, Shelby and Eureka recently, speaking with small business owners. On average, their revenue was down between 20 and 30% across the board. I met one business owner who is particularly dependent on Canadians coming down and spending their money. His business is off 80% in revenue."

One family who owns a business in Eureka is particularly impacted because one family member works in Canada while another operates the business in the states, Gianforte said.

"The only way he can see his kids is through a chain link fence. There is no reason at this point why the northern border can't be open for legal traffic in both directions. I bet a number of other families would have grandma and grandads who live just north of the border whose grandkids haven't seen them in 18 months because the border is closed. I will continue to push the pedal down on this to encourage the Biden Administration to end this closure of the northern border to safe traffic back and forth."

Currently, vaccinated Americans can cross to Canada - a policy implemented in August - but the American side is closed to entry or reentry through any port of entry.

"I don't know what the Biden Administration is thinking," Gianforte said. "They won't even return our phone calls."

A few weeks ago, "I joined 26 other governors in total, a majority of the governors in the United States. We sent a very simple letter to President Joe Biden that said we would like to sit down with [him] and talk about constructive collaborative ways that would fix the crisis at the two borders. We got back silence. He didn't even acknowledge receipt of the letter when it came from 26 sitting governors."

Southern Border Crisis

Gianforte on Oct. 6 toured the Mexican-American border near Mission, Texas, located near the Gulf of Mexico on the southern tip of the Lone Star State. Mission sits just across the border from Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Gianforte was joined by Governors Doug Ducey of Arizona, Brian Kemp of Georgia, Brad Little of Idaho, Kim Reynolds of Iowa, Pete Ricketts of Nebraska, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, Greg Abbott of Texas and Mark Gordon of Wyoming.

"We had a chance to get on the Rio Grande," Gianforte said. "Both sides of the river were littered with abandoned rafts where illegal immigrants had crossed. This is a national crisis. It is a humanitarian crisis. It is a national security crisis. The reason I went down is primarily to draw attention to it so we could end the flow of drugs into Montana communities. In July alone, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and other law enforcement confiscated over 700 pounds of fentyanal and almost nine tons of methamphetamine. The realty is Montanans are dying and Mexican Cartels are profiting. It has to end."

The southern border remains porous and insecure, according to Gianforte's Office, with drug cartels and human traffickers taking full advantage of the situation. Drug seizures at the southern border have skyrocketed as border apprehensions reach record levels.

"We've had 1.3 million people cross the border illegally and were released into this country since January," Gianforte said. "That is more than the entire population of Montana. I joined with 10 other governors at the border, and we presented a 10 point plan to President Joe Biden, that if enacted, would end this crisis. They include things like reimplementing the return to Mexico policy, deporting convicted criminals - which the Biden Administration is not doing right now - and eight other specific ideas that President Joe Biden could implement immediately without any action from Congress. We must end this crisis."

Gianforte places the blame for the crisis directly at the feet of the Biden Administration.

"I do," he said. "We have seen an increase in illegal Crossings every single month since Joe Biden has taken office, to the point where there are over 200,000 illegal immigrants that cross the border just last month alone. I am in favor of immigration, but it should be legal and people shouldn't be sneaking across the border in the middle of the night."

With the silence previously exhibited by the Biden Administration, Gianforte and his fellow cohort of Governors pushing the 10-point-plan may face an uphill battle.

"I am always hopeful," said Gianforte. "That being said ... the only thing I can understand is Joe Biden is asleep at the wheel. These things are going on around him. He has never even been to the southern border to see first hand the humanitarian crisis and the national security crisis that is going on."

Vice-President Kamala Harris also has not been to the border in person, Gianforte noted.

"The president thinks if he ignores this crisis, it will go away. It won't," Gianforte said. "It's time to end the humanitarian and security crisis and secure our southern border, which is why we've provided the president with a solution."

Vaccinations

Many of the illegal immigrants swarming into the country remain unvaccinated, potentially spreading COVID-19 to Americans they come into contact with. At the same time, The Biden Administration is working on a mandate through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) on a mandate requiring employees at businesses with more than about 80 staffers to get the jab.

Gianforte said he is against such mandates.

"Just from Montana's perspective, I think our role is to communicate, educate but not to mandate. I think these mandates don't work. I think for those who are resistant to getting the vaccine, trying to command them to do it just builds their resistance to being willing to embrace it. Unfortunately it is counter productive."

That being said, "I think the best ways for individuals to protect their families is to get vaccinated," Gianforte added. "I encourage Montanans to talk to a medical professional and consider getting vaccinated. About 90% of the people going into the hospital right now are unvaccinated. The vaccinations are safe and effective. It is a personal decision. We are not going to mandate them, but people should consider getting vaccinated."