BRIDGES NOT BORDERS - CREONS DES PONTS

On this blog, we used to post information about our visits to the border at Roxham Road, USA side.
Since the closure of Roxham Road on Friday 24 March 2023, we're attempting to keep a log of the info we have about refugees who have been returned to the US.
We're also now posting blogs about our personal experiences at the border.


Sur ce blogue, nous avons affiché des informations sur nos visites à la frontière, Roxham Road, États Unis. Depuis la fermeture de Roxham Road le vendredi 24 mars 2023, nous essayons de tenir un répertoire des informations que nous avons cueillies sur les réfugiés qui ont été renvoyés aux États-Unis.
De plus, nous postons maintenant des blogs sur nos expériences personelles à la frontière.

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4/2/2023

The first weekend after Roxham closed

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On Friday March 24th, with only a few hours between the announcement of the new protocol during the day, and the closure of Roxham Road at midnight that same day, refugees were scrambling to make it to the border in time. According to our contacts in the US, they were pleading with taxi drivers at Plattsburgh bus station to take them to Roxham Road before it closed. As midnight approached, some who had not crossed yet left their suitcases behind just so they could read Canadian soil before it was too late.

On Saturday March 25th, we were at the Canadian side of Roxham Road during the time that taxis would arrive taking people from the 3pm bus arrival at Plattsburgh. During our time there,  7 people arrived.

On Sunday March 26th, during the same time period, 20 people arrived, some hugging the taxi driver, thanking him for having brought them. Only 'unofficial' taxis were still driving people to Roxham Road, as the registered taxi drivers knew the border was now closed to all but those meeting the exceptions to the STCA (for more info about the STCA exceptions, go HERE). The people who arrived were mostly Spanish speaking, probably from South-American countries, 3 families, a young couple from Venezuela, and 6 single young men.

On Monday March 27th, we went to the border for the 6pm bus arrival in Plattsburgh, only to find that this bus had been cancelled on this day and for the rest of the week. Clearly the message was starting to get through. An RCMP officer told us only 6 people had arrived during the day shift at Roxham Road. When looking at the scraps of paper people had thrown away before entering the RCMP building, we found a folded-up drawing with well-wishes that must have been given to a child whose family was lucky enough to still be able to cross at Roxham. As we looked at it, we felt deeply sad about Canada having followed so many Western countries in becoming a 'fortress Canada' instead of welcoming refugees and giving them a safe new home.
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    The earlier border visit reports were written by the volunteers who were at the border on that day, the later updates about the situation in the US are an attempt to keep a log of what we find out through our own visits in the US, or through contacts in the US.
    ​Les rapports de nos visites à la frontière et de l'information qu'on a pu collecter sur la situation aux États-Unis sont rédigés par les bénévoles qui étaient à la frontière ou aux É-U. Nous sommes désolés de ne pas avoir les ressources pour traduire ces rapports en français.

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  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Quant a
  • Info 1
    • Info for Refugees >
      • Before you travel
      • Safe Third Country Agreement
      • Roxham Road: Update
    • Info pour réfugiés >
      • Avant de partir
      • Entente sur les tiers pays surs
      • Chemin Roxham : mise à jour
    • Info para refugiados >
      • Antes de viajar
      • Acuerdo de tercer país seguro
      • Roxham Road: actualizacion
    • Info Arabic Creole Turkish
  • Info 2
    • STCA
    • ETPS
    • Refugees: Myths and Facts
    • Refugiés : mythes et faits
    • Who?
    • Qui ?
    • Why?
    • Pourquoi ?
  • News
    • Media
  • Nouvelles
    • Médias
  • Blog
  • What?
  • Quoi ?
  • Links / Liens