You may have heard some horror story about a Canadian citizen who was detained at the border. Last Tuesday, I helped a Canadian get home. It was a great experience.
First I’ll give you a little background. The monument you see in the photo is on the U.S. - Canada border. It is about a half mile from my home in Blaine, WA. The monument is the Peace Arch and is on Peace Arch Park. The park is next to a Washington State park. There is no fence between the park and Canada. Canadians and Americans are welcome at Peace Arch Park but must check in with Customs and Border Patrol if leaving the park and crossing the border.
In fact, a few weeks ago my wife and I were walking through the Washington State Park, when a border patrol agent came to talk to us. He asked us if we were citizens and if we knew what the boundaries are. I replied that I thought so, but why don’t you tell us to make sure. He pointed to the street adjacent to the park. “That is Canada. I try to talk to everyone, but last week three people got past while I was talking to someone else. They were walking on the street and the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) arrested them before I could get to them.” I thanked him. He was very nice and we talked for a few minutes. It was typical of my experience with border patrol.
I picked up Erick, my brother-in-law, in Bellingham last Tuesday and brought him to Blaine. The plan was to stop at L&L Bakery for a coffee and cinnamon roll then take a walk. We had finished our roll when a man opened the door and said, “Is this Canada?”
He was a small man and spoke with a Japanese accent. I immediately got up to help him. People often get off the freeway too early and wind up in Blaine.
I said, “No. Do you want to go to Canada?” He said, “Yes.”
So we went outside to show him. It is very confusing. There is a traffic circle with six exits/entrances. I once gave someone directions and watched as he took the wrong exit and headed south instead of north. So, I carefully explained to him which exit to take to get under the freeway. To make matters worse, there is another traffic circle on the other side of the freeway. It only has five exits/entrances. I told him which one to take to get to Canada. Then he asked about Peace Arch Park. The street to the park is right before the exit to Canada. I asked him if he wanted to walk there. He was quite excited to do that.
I downed my last few gulps of coffee and we took off. The man explained his situation to me as we walked. He had left his wife and two friends on the Canadian side of Peace Arch Park. He went to park the car and wound up going through American customs. He had to go inside to explain his situation. He was given an orange sheet of paper and told to take a road back to Canada. The road was blocked and border patrol pointed for him to go down a road that wound up in Blaine. He checked his pockets and didn’t have the orange sheet of paper. He thought he must have left it in his car. He went back to get his car and Erick and I went to stand by the exit to Peace Arch Park.
When he showed up, I had him park in a parking lot to chat. He hadn’t found the orange paper. His concern was that Canada wouldn’t let him back into Canada because he didn’t have his passport or Nexus card. He did have a driver’s license. He lost the orange paper.
I told him that I know some people have horror stories about crossing the border and I didn’t want to get him into trouble, but I’ve always found the border patrol to be very helpful. He agreed to walk up to the border patrol and ask them what to do.
We walked up to a patrol car. I explained the situation. The agent looked at the Canadian. “Do you speak English.” He nodded. “You’re Canadian?” He nodded again. “Just present yourself to the Canadians and they’ll look you up in the computer and let you in. Don’t worry about it. This happens all the time.”
We walked him about halfway back to his car. We shook hands and wished him well. I watched to make sure he took the right exit to Canada.
Then Erick and I walked back up and went through Peace Arch Park. On our way back through the park, we saw an American border patrolman shooing some Canadians back across the Canadian line. “You folks have to go back past those signs.” They kind of turned. He continued, “You folks are Canadian, right? You have to go back past those signs.” They headed back. He didn’t fine them. He didn’t arrest them. He just quietly enforced the border.
Our small town depends a lot on Canadians. We took a big hit during Covid. Things were improving when President Trump stirred up Canadians with 51st state talk. That caused a decrease in traffic again. I was counting Canadian license plates while walking my dogs or going to Costco. A few weeks ago, I went to Costco and there were so many Canadian plates moving around that I couldn’t count them. Things are improving. It was interesting that when I went inside Costco, I found most of the people were non-white. The people some think should be most afraid to cross the border into the U.S. are the people who are coming.
That is typical of my personal experience with American border patrol. Welcome back Canadians!!