Republican lawmakers, Sen. Rick Scott and Sen. Marco Rubio, despatched a letter to the president on Friday, urging the Biden administration to grant 22-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic a waiver to enter the U.S. for the Miami Open later this month, regardless of his vaccine standing.
The letter addressed to President Biden calls out the present worldwide journey vaccine mandate that prohibits non-citizens from getting into the nation with out proof of vaccination towards COVID-19.
Djokovic, who didn’t compete within the U.S. Open final 12 months, has been public about his choice to not get the vaccine.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC ASKS PERMISSION TO ENTER US FOR TOURNAMENTS DUE TO VACCINE STATUS: ‘NOT IN MY HANDS’
“It has come to our consideration that your administration is in receipt of a request to waive the present vaccine mandate for worldwide vacationers getting into the United States from top-ranked males’s tennis participant Novak Djokovic,” the letter started.
“We write to induce you to grant the requested waiver, which is important to permit Mr. Djokovic to compete within the Miami Open skilled tennis event held in our house state of Florida starting March 19, 2023.”
Djokovic advised reporters final month that he had utilized for particular permission to enter the United States to compete on the Indian Wells event in California starting on March 6 and Miami Open on March 19.
“Everything is in course of. I’m grateful to the Indian Wells and Miami communities for his or her help. They would love me to have the ability to play of their tournaments . . . I’m trying ahead to a constructive choice coming quickly, nevertheless it’s not in my fingers,” he mentioned on the time.
The letter from Rubio and Scott cites the president’s remarks throughout a “60 Minutes” interview in September that the “pandemic is over” and Dr. Anthony Fauci’s feedback on the efficacy of the vaccine as motive sufficient to grant Djokovic a waiver.
“Mr. Djokovic is a world-class athlete in peak bodily situation who will not be at high-risk of extreme issues from COVID-19. It appears each illogical and misaligned with the opinions of your personal administration to not grant him the waiver he requests in order that he could journey to the U.S. to compete in an expert occasion.”
It continued: “The lack of public well being danger, together with the clear advantage of his participation in an occasion that can be a significant driver for our native economies ought to make the choice earlier than you easy and function a precedent for others in his place, whereas hopefully resulting in the total reversal of this mandate for different overseas guests who want to legally journey to our nice nation.”
Fox News’ Joe Morgan contributed to this report.
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