WASHINGTON, D.C. – Representative Yvette Herrell, who represents Cibola County, New Mexico in the United States House of Representatives, introduced a bill at the end of January that seeks to slow the spread of COVID-19 at the United States’ two land borders.
The Protecting Americans from Unnecessary Spread upon Entry Act of 2021, also known as the PAUSE Act, would ensure that US Title 42 could not be overturned by the Biden Administration, a fear Herrell’s team says drove the creation of this bill.
Title 42 is a piece of US Code that allows the country to manage a health crisis. Acting as a blanket, Title 42 covers a wide range of issues, from access to hospitals on reservation land, national insurance, child abuse prevention, age discrimination, and immigration movement at the borders. This bill ensures that border restrictions remain in effect under Title 42, and that the president cannot rescind these restrictions unless certain mandates are met.
“In New Mexico and across the U.S., draconian lockdowns have been imposed in the name of 'slowing the spread' of COVID-19,” Congresswoman Herrell said in a press release. “Until the lockdowns and emergency declarations have ended, border health protections must remain in place to prevent the introduction of new cases and new strains of the virus at our borders.”
If the bill finds approval, it will secure Title 42 until the end of all state and federal lockdowns, Stay-At-Home Orders, curfews and “COVID-19 mandates.
Asked if these requirements are counter-intuitive to the purpose of the bill, “It would be fundamentally unfair to keep American citizens on lockdown while allowing unfettered entry at the border,” Herrell explained in a statement.
Also included as rules before Title 42 can be reduced: All public emergencies ordered for COVID-19 be put to an end; the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must change the border travel risk to allow legal access from both the Canadian and Mexican borders.
Access to the borders might be more difficult to see happen since access to Canada is not currently allowed by the Canadian government unless the individual is a Canadian citizen returning home from the United States or are going on a necessary business trip, according to https://travel.gc.ca/travelcovid/travel-restrictions/answers/foreign-us-none-optional
Rep. Herrell’s bill has more than 30 cosponsors, but Herrell is the only House member signed onto the bill who represents a border district. A few of the sponsors like US Rep. Paul Gosar (R – AZ) are close to the border but their actual district does not touch the border or cover it.
The PAUSE Act is Representative Herrell’s first full bill to the US House of Representatives. She has led letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D – CA) and cosponsored bills during her time in Congress.