Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday that stationing troops on the border between the US and Canada should not happen.
It comes after coronavirus has caused havoc on the US and Canada.
Prime Minister Trudeau spoke on the border concerns from Rideau Cottage.
The leader is staying there while he is self-isolating after his wife tested positive for the virus.
He said: “Canada and the United States have the longest unmilitarized border in the world,
“It is very much in both of our interests for it to remain that way,”
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The White House is currently considering deploying 1,000 troops on the border.
The forces would be stationed 25km away, and would look for irregular migrants from the two neighbouring countries.
The proposal is not guaranteed to happen, and is in place due to the higher risk of transmission of coronavirus.
People have been moving between the two countries to escape the virus.
Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told a press conference that Canada is strongly opposed to the US idea of sending troops to intercept illegal migrants.
Freeland said: “Canada is strongly opposed to this U.S. proposal and we’ve made that opposition very, very clear to our American counterparts,”
“We understand the concerns about the coronavirus. We share those concerns, very much,
“We’ve said we really don’t think this is the right way to treat a trusted friend and military ally.”
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The news comes after both countries implemented mutual bans on non-essential travel between the two.
They have both allowed trade and essential workers to continue travelling unimpeded.
Trudeau closed Canada’s borders outside of the US on the 16th of March.
Additionally, air operators are “formally mandated’ to prevent symptomatic travellers from boarding flights to Canada.
Both Canada and the US have been hit hard by the virus.
Canada currently has 4,043 cases of coronavirus as of Thursday.
The US now has the highest amount of coronavirus cases in the world, with 82,474 infected.
Canada has seen 39 total deaths, while the US has had 1,177.
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