well let me start off by thanking the
president and the vice president for
their continued leadership and
commitment for protecting the American
people during this crisis early on the
president again took unprecedented
actions to restrict travel from areas
affected with the coronavirus and to
date DHS has screened over 200,000
individuals coming back from those
affected countries this has have been an
immense undertaking but one that the men
and women of DHS have successfully
accomplished today's announcement is yet
another example of the extraordinary
steps the administration is taking to
ensure the safety of the American public
before I comment on the CDC order that
I'm sure Secretary azar will later
elaborate on let me first address the
progress as Secretary Pompeo and others
have made with our Canadian and Mexican
partners regarding cross-border travel
as we continue to evaluate common-sense
measures that reduce risk and prevent
further spread it only makes sense that
we have looked to look at the measures
that our neighbors to the north and
south are undertaking and so we've been
working closely with those partners
since the earliest days of this virus
and the outbreak and again as the
president said earlier this week in
secretary Pompeo we've reached an
agreement or an agreement with both
Canada and Mexico to limit till women
non-essential travel across our land
borders let me be clear that neither of
these agreements with Canada or Mexico
applies to lawful trade or commerce
essential commercial activities will not
be impacted we will continue to maintain
a strong and secure economic supply
chain across our borders a few examples
of a central Travel include but
certainly are not limited to individuals
traveling for medical purposes to attend
educational institutions for emergency
response public health services and
individuals engaged in lawful
cross-border trades as the secretary
said the agreements with both Canada and
Mexico will go into effect on Saturday
March 21st
furthermore we're also working
collaboratively with Canada and Mexico
to take decisive a joint action
regarding individuals seeking entry
between our ports of entry
CDC order directs the Department to
suspend the introduction of all
individuals seeking to enter the u.s.
without proper
Travel documentation that's for both the
northern and southern border CDC
director is determined that the
introduction and spread of the corona
virus in the department's border patrol
stations and detention facilities
presents a serious danger to migrants
are frontline agents and officers and
the American people so it's important to
note that the department currently
apprehends foreign nationals from over
120 different countries around the world
the vast majority of those having
coronavirus cases many of these
individuals arrive with little or no
identity travel or medical documentation
making public health risk determinations
all but impossible it's also too
important to note that the outbreak on
our southern border would likely
increase the strain on health systems
and our border communities taken away
important and life-saving resources from
American citizens tonight again at
midnight we will execute the CDC order
by immediately returning individuals
arriving without documentation to Canada
Mexico as well as a number of other
countries without delay so again CBP is
positioned to execute these measures as
we continue to keep our borders secure
and safe before I conclude let me just
wrap up by thanking the brave men and
women of DHS specifically CBP and across
the government for the work that they do
day in and day out to keep the American
people safe from the corona virus the
department has a number of frontline
officers that have been tested positive
as well as others who are self
quarantine and that I am doing
everything that I can to protect these
Patriots as they continue to defend our
homeland during this crisis thank you
thank you