border visit january 6, 2019

​Sunday January 6th,  2019.  Roxham Road, USA.
A milder winter day.  We arrived a bit later than usual and probably missed some people who had arrived earlier in the mid afternoon.  Soon after we got there a  taxi pulled up with a lone male passenger who was from Nigeria and looked to be in his mid-thirties. He gratefully accepted a scarf from us. The RCMP officer who greeted him determined which language he spoke (English) and then went through the protocol (see below). He grabbed his bags and stepped over the border into Canada.  He was the only person who arrived while we were there.

For Your Information:
​The RCMP protocol consists of officers conveying these three points to the refugees: 
A. It is illegal to cross here at Roxham Road. **
B. If you want to cross at an official port of entry you must go to Lacolle. 
C. If you choose to cross at Roxham Road, you will be arrested.

It is not the role of the RCMP  to deter people from crossing at Roxham Rd or to coerce them into going to the official border crossing at Lacolle.

** In fact it is not illegal to cross irregularly,  according to Canadian and International law. See: http://www.bridgesnotborders.ca/myths-and-facts-2.html