border visit, december 15 2019

Sunday, December 15th, 2019. Afternoon at Roxham Road, USA.
Apologies for the late posting!

It's a bitterly cold and windy day.  Only two people crossed while we were there. We arrived at 3.20 pm and passed a taxi while driving down Roxham Road. We spotted a tall man carrying a backpack and a small bag walking down Roxham Road. The taxi driver, for some reason, had not dropped him off by the border but further up the road. This is not the first time we have seen this.  

He arrived at the border just as we did and we were able to speak with him. He was not that warmly dressed (bomber jacket, tuque and gloves but no scarf) and accepted a scarf from us.  He was from Haiti, and obviously scared in anticipation of entering Canada and being arrested.  The RCMP officer was very brief and he crossed into Canada without incident.

Within five minutes the next taxi arrived bringing one woman, also Haitian, in her late thirties or early forties.  A friend of hers arrived at the same time in a separate car. He had driven her all the way from Massachusetts to Plattsburgh where she had got a taxi.  She happily accepted a hat, gloves and scarf and was very open with us. One of us gave her a hug and she crossed easily into Canada. The RCMP officer said little and stuck to the protocol.  He did not insist she bring all her bags over the border at the same time and she was able to come back for the last item.

We stayed until 5pm and no one else arrived.