Sunday October 13th, 2019.  Afternoon at Roxham Road, USA.

On a beautiful fall afternoon there was a rush of 15 people within about 20 minutes and then no one else showed up.  Friends from Plattsburgh Cares also showed up unexpectedly.

The first taxi brought  a man, woman and young boy. They spoke English but we did find out what country they came from.

The second taxi had 2 men, 2 women and a child .They spoke French. Next came a taxi bringing a woman from Rwanda who shared a taxi with a man from El Salvador.   The last taxi brought a group of five men. We don't know where they were from.  

Everyone was treated according to protocol by the RCMP.

Sunday, October 6th, 2019. Afternoon at Roxham Road, USA
It is a mild autumn day. A total of 11 people crossed into Canada while we were at Roxham Road.  

First to arrive was the small shuttle bus taxi bringing eight people: three women, one man, a teenage boy, two girls and a baby.  A first family group went over, then a single woman. A mother with teenage boy and girl aged about 6 or 7 were waiting with us. The mother was tearful and very afraid. She said she was from Nigeria. They went to the border's edge and stood uncertainly as the police officer said his piece. Then the little girl moved ahead and her mother and brother followed.  Several people had taken  the new hand-knitted hats on offer and we put a hat on the baby's head and one little girl took finger puppets.

The second and last taxi brought three men who were not together but had shared the taxi.  One was a young man about 18 years old or so and who looked south Asian.  He spoke no English or French.  One of the other men was shabbily dressed and looked as though he had been traumatized. He was very polite with the police officer, replying 'yes sir' and when he was told it was his choice whether to cross or not he replied in accented English :  ''I have no choice. I need protection.''  

We stayed another hour but no one else arrived.

Sunday, September 22nd 2019. Afternoon at Roxham Road, USA.

Arrived at the border about 3.20. Shortly after we observed a youngish woman on the Canadian side , right at the border.  We asked her if she was part of the RCMP. She said that she was not .  We talked a bit about our group and asked her if she was attached to a group which she denied, stating that she was observing because she was personally interested. By then  we noticed that she had a small camera and asked her if she was recording which she confirmed. She remained close to the border the entire time and I heard her reporting to someone by telephone. 

Shortly after four  Borderline taxi arrived with a family from Nigeria, parents with four children a baby girl, a ten year old girl and two boys one almost a teenager. 

Next City taxi driver brought a man from Nigeria with three children and a single woman who had a lot of baggage.  The two taxi drivers left fast and did not talk. The woman on the Canadian side tried to ask questions of the refugees.

Finally , around 4.30 another taxi arrived with a very friendly driver  who we had not seen before. He brought a another Nigerian couple with four children a baby girl, another girl and two boys.

The RCMP officer had given every one the same message that if they crossed at Roxham they would be arrested, that there was an official border 5 km away where they could cross ''legally'' but he did not push it and was kind and helpful around the suit cases.