US-CBP Closes Border-Straddling Library Entrance to Canadidians

STANSTEAD, Quebec (AP) — For more than 100 years, people in Stanstead, Quebec
have been able to walk into Derby Line, Vermont to enter the border-straddling
Haskell Free Library and Opera House – no passport required.

https://ibb.co/3YNCz3BV

But municipal and library officials said on Friday that U.S. authorities have
unilaterally decided to end the century-old unwritten agreement. Coming at a
time of heightened tensions between the two countries, the decision is
prompting an outpouring of emotion in communities on both sides of the border,
which in places has been marked simply by flower pots.

Inside the library celebrated as a symbol of international friendship, Pauline
Lussier and Chris Blais put their arms around each other's shoulders Friday as
they stood on either side of the line taped down the floor marking the border.
Lussier, a Canadian, and Blais, an American met for the first time that day.

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"A line doesn't separate us, it never has," said Blais, who held an American
flag in her hands while Lussier held a Canadian one.

"Our kids have gone back and forth over this border without any problem at
all... this is all going to change now, and there's no reason for this," Blais
added.

Once inside the library, Canadian and American citizens have been able to
mingle freely across the border line drawn on the floor – as long as they
return to the proper country afterward. In 2016, then-president Barack Obama
hailed the symbolic importance of the library, built in 1901. "A resident of
one of these border towns once said, 'We're two different countries, but we're
like one big town,'" Obama said.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, confirmed that the
divide is about to become more pronounced. Starting in the coming days, only
library card holders and employees will be able to cross over from Canada to
enter the building through the main door on the U.S. side.

And as of Oct. 1, no Canadians will be able to enter the library via the
United States without going through the border checkpoint, though there will
be exceptions for law enforcement, emergency services, mail delivery, official
workers and those with disabilities.

The statement acknowledged the library as a "unique landmark", but said the
border agency was phasing in a new approach for security reasons.

"Due to the library's location, and convenience of local populations, CBP has
allowed customers of the library to access its sidewalk, without inspection,
for decades," the agency said in a statement. "However, during that time, this
area has witnessed a continued rise in illicit cross-border activity."

It noted there have been a number of incidents in and around the library that
resulted in apprehensions in recent years, including a person attempting to
smuggle firearms in the past year.

Town and library officials say Canadian visitors without a library card will
have to enter by a back door on the Canadian side, across a muddy stretch of
grass. The library announced Friday that it was launching a GoFundMe to raise
the estimated $100,000 Canadian (US$69,000) it will cost to build a sidewalk,
new parking lot, and wheelchair access.


https://apnews.com/article/canada-america-library-vermont-quebec-7c4851c705d18e0cc891c3ce085e15e4