American For Common Sense issued the following announcement on March 12.
Of the Trump administration’s European travel restrictions that exempt the U.K.: “Well, you can just get into the Chunnel, and you’ll be in the U.K.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi questioned whether it made sense for the Trump administration to stop travel from certain countries in Europe — but not the United Kingdom — in order to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
At Pelosi’s weekly press conference, a reporter asked if she thought the administration’s travel ban was "wise." Pelosi said she had spoken with Vice President Mike Pence and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, and was told it was a "scientific medical decision."
"I have great confidence in Dr. Fauci. It's just strange, because they're saying it's because it's easy to travel among these countries. But they're separate from the U.K.," Pelosi said. "Well, you can just get in the Chunnel, and you'll be in the U.K. Again, it's a decision they made. It has its ramifications. We'll see whether it's worth the trouble."
Pelosi said she wasn’t there to criticize President Donald Trump’s decisions, but emphasized that testing would be "the only way" to learn how the virus is spreading.
PolitiFact wanted to take a closer look at Pelosi’s comments about travel in Europe and how it relates to the details in Trump’s proclamation.
Trump’s travel ban
Trump’s proclamation seeks to restrict "all aliens who were physically present within the Schengen Area during the 14-day period preceding their entry or attempted entry into the United States."
U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents and their close relatives are exempt from the ban. So are numerous categories of other people.
The Schengen Area covers European states that agree to free movement among their nations without border checks. Countries in the zone include Austria, Belgium, and France (here’s the full list). The United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — is not part of the Schengen Area. (Neither is the Republic of Ireland, a member of the European Union that borders Northern Ireland.)
Original source here.
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