border visit october 14, 2018

Sunday October 14, 2018. Afternoon. Roxham Road, USA.
A beautiful sunny autumn day. The colours of the leaves are at their best today.  The first taxi to arrive brings four people.  We speak first with a single woman in her 30's from the Democratic Republic of Congo,  She holds the hands of the volunteer. Her smile is beautiful and sad as she shares how hard it is in her country. She is afraid of to cross into Canada and be arrested and  yet brave at the same time.  The other people in the taxi are a young family from El Salvador - mother, father and one year old baby.  They seem nervous but excited to have arrived at the border and to take the next step.  The RCMP officer speaks in French to the Congolese woman. He then speaks in basic Spanish to the El Salvadorean family until he is told they speak English and he switches.  It sounded like he first said in Spanish 'You don't have a right to cross here.' which would not have been correct (see: http://www.bridgesnotborders.ca/myths-and-facts-2.html). All four cross into Canada without incident. 

Nearly an hour later a second taxi arrives bringing an Egyptian family from the train station - mother, father, teenage daughter, and two sons aged about 10 and 4.  They are tense and afraid as they struggle with their luggage.  We help out and speak with the mother who is in tears from fear and  all the stress of finally arriving here at the border.  Her little son is crying and so is her daughter.  The RCMP officer speaks gently to them explaining the protocol.  They finally cross over and another officer speaks kindly to the little boy.