Daniel Beers grew up in Vansboro, Maine, a border town where he could throw a stone across the St. Croix River and land in another state.
The double citizen has more family on the Canadian side than in the United States, and says he usually crosses the border almost every day. He says most people in Vansboro have families in Canada.
But if plans to halve working hours continue, traffic between Canada and the United States will be allowed for only 13 hours a day.
Residents of both Vansboro and nearby Macadam, NB, say it will hurt families and businesses and leave them very vulnerable without some emergency services.
“We’re neighbors, we’re essentially the same community here,” Beers said. “And they’re just drawing a line right in the middle of us.”
WATCH | Residents of Vansboro, Maine respond to the closure of the border crossing for 11 hours every day:
Wansborough residents say closing borders would be “devastating”
Friends, family and services will be interrupted 12 hours a day when the Vansboro border crossing cuts working hours, according to those living in the border towns of Vansboro and Macadam.
The crossing is on the St. Croix River, about 10 kilometers west of Macadam. Vansboro’s port of entry into the United States plans to reduce its opening hours until 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Atlantic time in the fall. The crossing is now open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
CBC News requested an interview with the US Customs and Border Protection about the specifics and motives behind the decision. No one was provided.
But correspondence between the agency and selected employees in the area confirms the plan to reduce working hours.
And no one living in the area seems to be happy about that.
Community divided by border
The region has just recovered from two years of border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
When the border reopened and the two communities interacted again, things began to feel closer to normal, Beers said.
But in early spring, construction crews began building fences and gates at the US border station. Rumor has it that the crossing will be closed in the evening, starting in September.
“They don’t actually take it away from us 100 percent, but they limit our access to it,” Beers said. “So many things have been taken away.”
Daniel Beers, a lifelong resident of Vansboro and owner / operator of a Holly store, says cutting hours at the New Brunswick border crossing will tear family members apart. (Shane Fowler / CBC News)
Beers said it would not only affect family visits or going to hockey and basketball games in Macadam or Fredericton. This can also harm his business.
Beers owns Holly’s, one of two stores in Vansboro. It sells goods for shops, hardware and propane. Before the pandemic, half of his business came from Canadians crossing the border to pick up packages they sent to his store.
“These are things that people can’t find there or it’s cheaper here,” said Beers, who said many customers want to avoid the fees and delays that come with shipping packages from the United States to Canada. “If you can save $ 200 a piece, you’ll do it.”
Beers charges $ 3.50 American for holding packages for Canadians, who will often drive an hour from Fredericton after work to pick up their supplies. The pandemic prevented Canadians from coming, but since the border was reopened, business has begun to recover.
“I really expect it to go back to what it was before,” Beers said.
If the border starts to close early, it will deter many people from traveling.
Surprising decision
Cheryl Long, an elected board member of Vansboro, the equivalent of a city councilor, said people learned about the plan only by talking to staff at the intersection. There was no notice from the US Customs and Border Protection.
“We don’t want to lose the opportunity to visit our relatives, people and doctors there,” Long said. “It’s devastating for a small town.”
Long said Vansboro residents rely on proximity to Horizon Health Center in McAdam for emergencies. The clinic is just 10 minutes away, and the nearest alternative is a 50-minute drive to St. Louis Regional Family Center. Croix in Princeton, Maine. He works fewer hours than the McAdam Clinic.
Vanceboro elected board member Cheryl Long says the city has not received information from U.S. customs and border officials that crossing reduces hours. (Shane Fowler / CBC News)
The nearest alternative point is St. Stephen-Calais, 164 km detour.
People in Wansboro who work in Calais say it’s a 40-minute trip through Canada, as opposed to a 70-minute trip to one state.
Long also has a family across the border and said an earlier closure would make evening travel almost impossible.
“You couldn’t go to graduations, football games, basketball games or Christmas shows,” Long said.
Canadian country
The village of Macadam is a larger community than Vansboro, but residents of Macadam often shop across the border, especially for gas. Mayor Ken Stanix said access to lower-priced goods just across the border has always kept Macadam’s costs competitive.
He was shocked to learn of the plans.
“Many times [our responders] will cross the river if there is a fire, if there is an emergency, “Stanix said.” So what happens if the gate is closed and this community needs our help, how do we get there? ”
Ken Stanex, mayor of Macadam, says any reduction in hours will have a negative effect on his community and Vansboro. (Shane Fowler / CBC News)
The employees are responsible
U.S. lawmaker Jeffrey Evangelos, an independent in the Maine House of Representatives, has vowed to fight the plan.
“It was deliberately swept under the rug so the public wouldn’t know about it,” Evangelos said.
He said he learned about the shortening of hours from upset Wansboro residents. After talking to border guards, he began putting pressure on US customs and border guards.
He shared an email response from Port Director Herm Gadway on June 9 to CBC News.
In part, it reads: “CBP will hold a Wansborough City Hall meeting sometime in the near future to discuss plans to reduce working hours and hear public feedback.
CBC News also requested an interview with Gadway, but received no response.
The Canadian Border Agency did not provide anyone for an interview to give details on how the changes by the United States would affect the St Croix border station.
“The Border Service of Canada can confirm that it is aware of the proposed reduction of hours at the border checkpoint Vansboro, Maine by the US Customs and Border Protection,” the agency wrote in an email. “We continue to monitor this closely for possible impacts on our operations.
Mayor Stanex suspects that any changes to the US border will have to be copied from the St. Croix border crossing in Canada. (Shane Fowler / CBC News)
Stannix suggests that the Canadian border checkpoint will be forced to mimic the closure of the United States.
Evangelos helps organize a public meeting for July 5 at Vanceboro Community Center at 17:00 ET. He said US customs and border guards told him they would be present.
And Beers suspects that once residents on both sides of the border gather to express their thoughts, things could get hot.
“We’re all one family and they’re separating us,” Beers said.
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