border visit 20 november 2022

It was a bitterly cold, windy day at Roxham.  Quite quickly the first taxi arrived bringing a young man from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He did not need any clothes and moved quickly to the border and crossed without incident.

Not long after this a tax brought five people from Nicaragua : a single man and a family of four (parents with two children). The family took some clothes. A Spanish speaking RCMP officer spoke to them and they entered Canada quickly.   Almost immediately another taxi brought five people from Columbia: a mother with two children  -a girl about 2 years old and a teenage son -  and a couple. We were able to give out quite a few things. The Spanish speaking officer again spoke with them and they crossed over.

Quickly after this,  a taxi brought two single men in their late 20's, one from Afghanistan who spoke some English and one from Senegal who spoke French. We gave the Afghani man a hat and scarf.  Things went smoothly.

Two taxis then arrived, one with a woman likely from Haiti and the other was a man of African origin. They moved quickly to go to the border and we did not have a chance to speak with them. 

After 4 pm a family from Columbia arrived - a young couple and a 3 month old baby boy -  bringing only two carrier bags and dressed very skimpily. The woman was holding the baby wrapped in a blanket. It looked like they might have arrived from the southern border and were wearing donated jackets too big for them. They were very friendly and grateful for what we could offer them including a warm hat the the baby.  They crossed over without incident.

Just as we were preparing to leave, an Uber brought another family from Columbia: a couple with an 8 year old daughter. The man jumped out and shook our hands introducing himself in English. We were able to speak a bit with the mother and daughter too. He said he was afraid that the Canadian police would treat them as did the border guards in the southern USA.  He also mentioned they had been shot at four times,  which we -perhaps wrongfully-  assumed had happened in Columbia.  Again thing went smoothly at the border.

Today the RCMP officers behaved appropriately, and were not attempting unduly to discourage people from crossing. One officer was quite friendly.