National News
America Loosens COVID-19 Restrictions on Inbound Flights
Written by Jackson Arnold
June 15, 2022
COVID-19 forced the world to shut down due to its dangerous nature of being unknown and sudden. However, with different countries beginning to reopen their borders and trying to get life back to normalcy, the United States of America decided to lift its COVID-19 testing requirements for travel into the country.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on October 25, 2021, all passengers had to provide a negative COVID-19 test before boarding a plane headed to the U.S. This was amended on December 6, 2021, to all passengers aged two and above. Finally, over seventh months since the initial requirements were put in place, the U.S. decided to lift its travel restrictions for flights into the country on June 12, 2022.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic was announced in March 2020, the international travel industry in America has seen its statistics plummet to almost unprecedented levels. According to Statista, the number of international inbound visitors in the U.S. in 2019 was 79.44 million. That number then dropped to 19.45 million in 2020 due to the pandemic. With the travel restrictions being lifted, those numbers should return to their pre-COVID-19 status and could even elevate beyond because people are trying to make up for the lost time.
Another significant effect of lifting travel requirements is the impact it will have on legal immigration into the United States. During the pandemic, America gave out fewer green cards and saw fewer temporary migrants come through closed borders except for essential travel. With fewer COVID-19 requirements, the U.S. will see a spike in illegal immigrants, tourists, and temporary migrants. With the unemployment rate only currently being 3.6%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this could cause problems in specific job markets. Furthermore, with housing proving difficult due to mortgage rates and low supply, the housing crisis could create issues for immigrants looking to secure a home.
As America reopens its border to aviation travel, the U.S. could see a meteoric rise in tourism, creating a golden opportunity for one of the biggest markets in the world.
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