Donald Trump to close historic border crossing between US and Canada
A border crossing between the US and Canada, which has been used by locals in both countries for generations, is set to be closed later this year by Donald Trump.
The US government has said a nine-mile long passageway linking Coutts, Alberta, and Sweet Grass, Montana, will be shut to Canadian traffic from July 1 in a bid to improve security.
Border Road sits in Montana but has been maintained by the County of Warner, Alberta, for decades — with locals on both sides free to walk across.
Some of those who will be impacted by the change are already speaking out over the impending closure.
Alberta resident Ross Ford told Canadian channel CTV News that the move was ‘unfortunate’.
‘We’ve enjoyed free access to the road for, I guess, about 80 years, way before I was born. We’ve always been very close to our neighbors. Of course, they live in Montana and that won’t change, but we have this new barrier.’
His long-time friend Rogert Horgus, who lives over the border near Sweet Grass, described the looming closure as ‘ridiculous’, adding: ‘I hate to see it because the Canadians have taken such good care of us and the road, with grading and all of that.
‘When we grew up, I wouldn’t be surprised if some weeks every day we’d run across and play. Ride bicycles, ride horses, go-karts.’
He added border patrol officials have told locals there has been an increase in illegal traffic but that he has not witnessed it himself, adding that the border will now ‘be in the ditch’.
The news has also proven to be unpopular with other locals, with one Canadian resident taking to social media to say: ‘I remember many family trips down to Montana as a kid, and honestly I don’t think I realised we even crossed a border. But the US pettiness knows no bounds.’
Alberta transportation minister Devin Dreeshen has said that plans are afoot to build a parallel road on the Canadian side of the border, which is due to begin construction in April.
Speaking to the Canadian Press, he said: ‘We were informed by Homeland Security that they were making sure that this and other areas of US soil at the border were going to be enforced.
‘We obviously went through the process to make sure we were able to expedite this [road], working with the County of Warner to make sure local access for Albertans [was available] on the Canadian side of the border.
‘Regardless of the line on the map, you’ll have farmers on both sides of the border, you’ll have family friends on both sides of the border. I think obviously that will continue.’
The border between the US and Canada runs for more than 5,000 miles, making it the longest international border in the world.
But while locals from both sides have hopped between Coutts and Sweet Grass over the decades, it hasn’t always gone unnoticed.
Homeland Security reported in 2016 that two teenagers distracted by playing Pokemon Go wandered across the border without realising they had done so, crossing illegally into the US as a result.
They were apprehended by Homeland Security before being reunited with their mother on the Canadian side.