'Mind-blowing' decision by U.S. to extend land border restrictions leaves those across the line baffled and worried
When the U.S. government released its decision Wednesday morning to bar Canadians from entering via land crossings for at least another month, Aly Hayton said she was stunned.
“I was speechless for a moment,” Hayton, the owner of the only grocery store in the tiny U.S. exclave of Point Roberts, said, “And then I wanted to cry.”
Len Saunders, an immigration lawyer who lives and works in Blaine, Wash., said he was disappointed, but not surprised.
“There seems to be no reasonable reason,” Saunders said. “There’s no logic in this continued closure. At this point, I’ve stopped guessing.”
The U.S. memo, which outlined the restrictions, read they were being extended because “the risk of continued transmission and spread of (COVID-19) between the (countries) poses an ongoing 'specific threat to human life or national interests.'”
The rules, which have been in place for 16 months, prohibit non-essential travel over the land border between Canada and the U.S., though Canadians are still able to fly into the country.
The extension also comes 48 hours after Ottawa announced it would allow fully-vaccinated Americans to enter Canada, beginning Aug. 9.
Hayton worries the few hundred customers she and other Point Roberts businesses have left are about to dry up, with no one to replace them.
She plans to reassess the financial situation for her supermarket, the International Marketplace, and take it week-by-week.
“If all of these other businesses close, even if I can squeak by and make it through to next summer, what’s going to be there for people to come down to next year?” Hayton asked.
The U.S. Congresswoman who represents Point Roberts bluntly echoed Hayton’s worries.
“Continuing the border closure all but ensures more businesses will close and more livelihoods will be destroyed along the border,” Rep. Suzan DelBene wrote in a statement.
In its reasons for the extension, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security outlined concerns that ramping up travel could put both tourists and border officers at increased risk of contracting COVID-19, while at the same time acknowledging increased vaccination rates, particularly in Canada.
American John Adams, who owns property on Vancouver Island, and has booked airline tickets to return to Canada Aug. 9, said he was “flabbergasted.”
“Here we are not allowing one of the most vaccinated people in the world to come (in),” Adams said. “Not only would (Canadians) be safe, they would be good role models for Americans.”
When asked about the extension, Premier John Horgan told reporters while he couldn’t “predict or control what the U.S. does,” he said he doubted British Columbians would be “lining up in large numbers to travel south until they truly feel the pandemic is behind us.”
As for when the restrictions might be lifted, the Homeland Security Secretary wrote his department “is working closely with counterparts in Mexico and Canada to identify conditions under which restrictions may be eased safely and sustainably.”
Hayton, who received some additional funding from Washington State earlier this month to help her remain open, said she will step up her efforts to convince the Prime Minister and U.S. President to grant Point Roberts an exemption, calling it the "perfect" border pilot project.
“It’s mind-blowing to me that they can’t figure out a way to make this work,” Hayton said.
And her advice for both leaders?
“Look at what your decisions are doing to these actual people: we’re actual people out here that are going to lose everything.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Two killed after collision with truck on Hwy. 417 near Limoges, Ont.
Ontario Provincial Police say two people were killed after a car and a transport truck collided in the westbound lanes of Highway 417 near Limoges, Ont. on Tuesday afternoon.
Hulk Hogan, hurricanes and a blockbuster recording: A week in review of the Trump hush money trial
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
What a U.S. farmworker’s case of bird flu tells us about tracking the infection
A U.S. farmworker who caught bird flu after working with dairy cattle in Texas appears to be the first known case of mammal-to-human transmission of the virus, a new study shows.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
‘We made them safer and more fun’: Here’s what’s new about e-scooters
Electric scooters (e-scooters) have been gaining popularity in the capital and this season comes with some changes and updates.
Canadian Auger-Aliassime reaches first Masters final in Madrid with another walkover
Montreal's Felix Auger-Aliassime has advanced to his first ATP Masters final, and he hasn't had to play all that much tennis to do it.