Plan to cut hours at Maine border crossing has people on both sides unhappy

Daniel Beers grew up in Vanceboro, Maine, a border town where he could throw a rock across the St. Croix River and it would land in another country.

The dual citizen has more family on the Canadian side than in the United States and says he normally crosses the border almost daily. He says most people in Vanceboro have family in Canada.

But if plans to halve opening hours go through, travel between Canada and the United States would only be allowed for 13 hours a day.

Residents of Vanceboro and McAdam, New Brunswick, say it will hurt families and businesses and leave many vulnerable people without certain emergency services.

“We’re neighbors, we’re basically the same community here,” Beers said. “And they just draw a line in the middle of us.”

WATCH | Vanceboro, Maine residents react to the closure of border crossings for 11 hours a day:

The crossing is on the Sainte-Croix River, about 10 kilometers west of McAdam. The U.S. port of entry of Vanceboro plans to reduce its hours of operation to 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Atlantic time in the fall. The crossing now operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

CBC News has requested an interview with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on the details and reasoning behind the decision. No one was made available.

But correspondence between the agency and the elected officials of the territory confirm the project to reduce working hours.

And it seems that no one who lives in the area is happy about it.

Community divided by the border

The region is just recovering from two years of border closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When the border reopened and the two communities interacted again, things started to get closer to normal, Beers said.

But in early spring, construction crews began constructing fences and gates at the US border crossing. It was rumored that the crossing would be closed in the evenings from September.

“They’re not 100% taking it away from us, but they’re limiting access to it,” Beers said. “So many things are taken away.”

Beers said it won’t just affect family visits or hockey and basketball games in McAdam or Fredericton. It could also harm his business.

Beers owns Holly’s, one of two stores in Vanceboro. He sells convenience store products, hardware and propane. Before the pandemic, half of his business came from Canadians crossing the border to pick up packages they had shipped to his store.

“These are things people can’t find there or it’s cheaper here,” said Beers, who said many customers want to avoid the fees and delays of shipping packages from United States to Canada. “If you can save $200 on a piece, you will.”

Beers charges US$3.50 to hold packages from Canadians who often drive the hour from Fredericton after work to pick up their deliveries. The pandemic has kept Canadians from coming, but since the border reopened, business has picked up again.

“I really expect him to go back to how he was,” Beers said.

If the border starts closing early, it will deter many people from making the trip.

surprise decision

Vanceboro board member Cheryl Long, the equivalent of a city councilman, said people only learned about the plan by talking to staff at the crossing. There was no notification from US Customs and Border Protection.

“We don’t want to lose the ability to go and visit our relatives, people and doctors there,” Long said. “It’s devastating for a small town.”

Long said Vanceboro residents rely on proximity to Horizon’s McAdam Health Center for emergencies. The clinic is only 10 minutes away and the nearest alternative is a 50 minute drive from the St. Croix Regional Family Center in Princeton, Maine. It’s open fewer hours than the McAdam Clinic.

The nearest alternative crossing is St. Stephen-Calais, a 164 kilometer detour.

People from Vanceboro who work in Calais say it’s a 40 minute drive across Canada, as opposed to 70 minutes in the US.

Long also has family across the border and said the early closure would make evening travel nearly impossible.

“You couldn’t attend graduations, football games, basketball games or Christmas programs,” Long said.

Canadian side

The Village of McAdam is a larger community than Vanceboro, but residents of McAdam often shop across the border, especially for gas. Mayor Ken Stannix said access to low-cost items just across the border has always kept costs competitive in McAdam.

He was shocked when he heard about the plans.

“A lot of times [our responders] will cross the river if there is a fire, if there is a medical emergency,” Stannix said. “So what happens then if the door is closed and this community needs our help, how do we get there?

Officials respond

State Legislator Jeffery Evangelos, an independent in the Maine House of Representatives, pledges to fight the plan.

“It was intentionally swept under the rug so the public wouldn’t know about it,” Evangelos said.

He said he learned of the reduced hours from disgruntled Vanceboro residents. After speaking with border crossing officials, he began lobbying US Customs and Border Protection.

He shared a June 9 email response from port manager Herm Gadway with CBC News.

It reads, in part: “CBP will hold a town hall meeting in Vanceboro in the near future to discuss plans to reduce hours and to hear public input.”

CBC News also requested an interview with Gadway but did not receive a response.

The Canada Border Services Agency did not make anyone available for an interview to provide details on how any changes on the US side would affect the St. Croix border crossing.

“The Canada Border Services Agency can confirm that it is aware of the proposed reduced hours at the Vanceboro, Maine border crossing by United States Customs and Border Protection,” it said. the agency in an email. “We continue to monitor this closely for any impact on our operations.”

Stannix assumes that the Canadian border crossing will be forced to mimic the US closure.

Evangelos helped organize a public meeting for July 5 at the Vanceboro Community Center at 5 p.m. ET. He said U.S. Customs and Border Protection told him they would be there.

And Beers suspects that once residents on both sides of the border come together to voice their thoughts, things could heat up.

“We’re all one family and they’re dividing us,” Beers said.