A binational gathering of Americans and Canadians whose families were separated during the three-year-long Covid-19 pandemic was held Friday at Pat Sole Park near the Peace Bridge to mark the end of U.S.-imposed border mandates.
Marcella Picone insisted that the reunion was not a celebration because she and the others still harbored resentment over U.S border policies, which ended Thursday, that kept families apart. Picone and her Canadian fiancé have two American-born children together. She was able visit him in Canada, but he was barred from entering the U.S. to see her and their daughters because of his vaccination status.
Technically, the border in both directions was opened by January 2021, but the U.S. began requiring all noncitizens and all nonpermanent residents to show proof of vaccination prior to entry. Canada required a negative Covid-19 test for Americans and others traveling into the country until lifting that and other pandemic restrictions last October.
The 1,149-day wait for Canadians without a Covid-19 vaccine to return to U.S. soil “was just unnecessary,” said Picone, who founded “Families are Essential” as an outlet for family members stranded on either side of the international border.
“The science and the policies just weren’t justified for this long,” she said. “Hopefully, it never happens again.”
John and Debbie Peters of London, Ont., have an adult son and daughter who are both married to American citizens.
“Our daughter actually did try to come to the States last fall with her American husband and their children, and she was denied,” Debbie Peters said. “They were trying to go see his family. Because she was not vaccinated, they had to go back home.”
The U.S. and Canada closed their borders to nonessential travel on March 24, 2020, two weeks after Covid-19 began to spread rapidly in both countries.
“I was working from home. I could quarantine,” Picone said. “Other people didn’t have that luxury. And…
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