Homeland Security official: U.S. travel restrictions to Europe are 'under discussion'

The Eiffel Tower.
(Image credit: Bertrand Guay/AFP via Getty Images)

During a congressional hearing on Wednesday, Acting Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli said that due to the coronavirus, government officials are mulling enacting travel restrictions for Europe.

Italy has been hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak, with 12,000 confirmed cases and more than 800 deaths. "You've seen Department of State and CDC warnings go up," Cuccinelli said. "That is not to the level of using legal authorities to block travel yet, but it is under discussion." More than two dozen European countries are part of the Schengen Zone, which allows for free movement without border controls. This causes a "unique problem," Cuccinelli said, because "they don't have border for the purposes of travel."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.