Forty buses brought 800 Mexican citizens from Nuevo León to Laredo, Texas on Wednesday. They came to be vaccinated at the invitation of the Mayor of Laredo, Pete Saenz. Another 37 buses were scheduled to come at the end of the week with more coming on Monday. This is happening as the Biden administration extended the ground travel ban with both Mexico and Canada.

The bus caravan was well-coordinated. The governor-elect of Nuevo Leon and his influencer wife were among the 800 in the first day’s operation. The buses were accompanied by federal and state security forces. Three fleets of buses left Monterrey on a staggered schedule Wednesday morning. They traveled about 300 kilometers to Laredo, Texas, a border city. Governor-elect Samuel Garcia, his wife, and employees of major companies in the area like PepsiCo, Farmacias del Ahorro, a building materials firm, and a budget airline were all vaccinated. All of the Mexicans were under 40 years of age and had not been able to get vaccinated in Nuevo Leon. Nuevo Leon ranks third in Mexico for total COVID-19 cases.

“… It’s an opportunity for young people to get the vaccine. It’s an opportunity for them to look after their health and that of their family,” said García, who organized the initiative intended for the employees of manufacturing businesses that export products to the U.S.

“We wholeheartedly thank the United States government, which knows that Nuevo León and the northeastern region of the country are key actors for [economic] growth,” he said.

This is actually a good idea. The southern border has been closed to non-essential ground travel since March 2020, as has the northern border with Canada. Border communities on both borders are more than ready for the travel bans to expire without renewals. The Biden administration, though, announced yesterday that the travel bans have been renewed for another month. The bans have been renewed on a month-to-month basis.

“To minimize the spread of #Covid-19, including the delta variant, the United States is extending restrictions on nonessential travel at our land and ferry crossings with Canada and Mexico through September 21, while continuing to ensure the flow of essential trade and travel,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Twitter on Friday.

“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,” it added.

The coordinated effort to vaccinate working Mexican citizens along the border makes sense. Laredo had the vaccines available and this is a way to help move the process of reopening the border along. It’s a win-win for both Texas and Mexico. Vaccine tourists who can afford to travel by air into the U.S. have been doing so but this idea of bus caravans has the potential to vaccinate a greater number of people from specific areas along the border. Though the United States has not, Mexico relaxed restrictions last April to allow people to cross the border for nonessential reasons in states where the coronavirus risk level was medium yellow or green on the coronavirus stoplight map – low levels.

More than 6 in 10 Mexicans have received at least one COVID-19 vaccination. 51% of Americans are vaccinated. Mexico has been pushing for the travel ban to end, as it affects the economies of both sides of the border and family ties along the border. American city officials and business leaders along the border agree. Canada, unlike the U.S., recently reopened its land border to nonessential United States travelers who are fully vaccinated.

Governor-elect Garcia said the vaccination bus caravans have been very successful.

“… [The trip] was very well-organized and ultra-protected [by the security forces],” said the governor-elect, who will take office in October.

“… The path to health is to vaccinate ourselves; we have to set the example that there is no other way out of [the pandemic].”

The travel ban on the northern border is frustrating to officials and business leaders in border cities like Detroit. Brad Williams, vice president of government relations at the Detroit Regional Chamber asks a legitimate question – if we are to follow the science, why not at least allow vaccinated Canadian travelers access to the United States? A coalition of business chambers, including Detroit’s, wrote a letter to President Joe Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last week. They asked that the borders be reopened to non-essential crossings. They also asked U.S. officials to work with Canadians on a bilateral border crossing plan.

The travel ban on both the northern and southern border for non-essential land travel has been extended for another month. Commercial crossings and essential traffic continue to be allowed to freely cross the borders.