‘I’m stuck until that border opens’: Abandoned in paradise

POINT ROBERTS, Wash. – A house that for a long time looked like paradise is starting to feel more like Alcatraz lately.

A 5-square-mile drop in land clinging to the southern tip of British Columbia overlooking snow-covered Mount Baker to the east and the San Juan Islands to the south, Point Roberts is cut off from the rest of Washington state. Not far south of Vancouver, it is a relic of the 1846 Treaty of Oregon, which established the northern boundary of what was then the Oregon Territory at the 49th parallel. Getting to the rest of the United States from Point Roberts requires two international border crossings with a 24-mile run in the middle.

Isolation is both a blessing and a curse during a pandemic. Despite having no coronavirus cases to date, Point Roberts may be the last place in the United States to return to normal because the Canadian government has extended the closure of its international border every month since it closed on March 21. Only people with reasons considered essential can do it. cross, and the order has been strictly enforced.

The few Point Roberts companies rely on cross-border trade. Canadian tourists and seasonal residents, who quadruple the population during the summer months, generate 90% of their annual income. Some of the 1,300 year-round residents fear that if the closure continues, they may never reopen.

Brian Calder, 79, whose family arrived in 1895, predicts that “Point Roberts will become a ghost town by the middle of next year.”

The parks anchor the four corners of the region. Children wander among cedars along an enchanted forest path decorated with figures of gnomes and fairies. Whales can be seen from the shore and deer roam the flower-lined cabins protected by thorny blackberries. People greet each other as they pass and catch up at the only supermarket.

For generations, Canadians have traveled south to their seaside homes. They dock their boats at the marina, play golf on the public field and dine in restaurants. Others cross the border to Point Roberts in search of cheaper gas and milk. They pick up packages, many from Amazon, which are delivered to one of seven shipping stores, avoiding costly international fees.

Allan White, one of the few Canadians who spent this summer at Point Roberts, stood at Maple Beach Park looking north toward his condo building in the distance. He believes the border should be closed and is prepared to comply with the 14-day quarantine when he returns home.

“I think Canadians have done a much better job handling COVID than Americans, which is very strange to say because they are the smartest and most powerful country in the world that we have ever known and they are with Brazil,” he said.

Most Canadians have stayed away. The marina is less than half its normal capacity; many Canadian owners took their boats out when the border was closed. Coyotes roam the brown fairways of the golf course. Weeds poke 2 feet up through gravel driveways from closed houses. Only the Saltwater Cafe is open during the week and that may not last long, according to its owner, Tamra Hansen, who continues to operate at a loss.

If all the businesses close, he said, “none of the young people will have a place to work and they will leave. It will end up being a community of retirees ”.

Point Bob, as the locals call it, has always had a cross-cultural feel. Many children go to school across the border in Tsawwassen, a 10-minute drive away, or are taken by bus to Blaine, Washington, 25 miles away. Residents participate in Vancouver’s diverse cultural scene, attending the symphony and theater. They are thankful that the virus did not touch them. At first they laughed when the news described it as the safest place in America. As the border closure has been repeatedly extended, that concept is wearing thin.

When it was announced that children would not be allowed to cross the border to attend school, parents joined in a letter-writing campaign, joining others in the community who were already asking government officials to acknowledge the situation. unique to the area. Governor Jay Inslee also stepped in and recently sent a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada in hopes of finding a solution for the residents of Point Roberts.

It has been heartbreaking for Ashley and Jordan Strub to realize how much they took for granted. They live with their two young children in a house with a large front porch surrounded by mature fruit trees and dozens of chickens. Before the coronavirus, they crossed the border frequently, to go to the gym, shop, or just to socialize with friends. Some of his friends will be leaving Point Roberts during the year to keep their children in school.

Strub, 42, said he felt his community was being ripped apart. The couple is shocked by reports of neighbors who have been harassed or whose cars, with Washington plates, were vandalized when they crossed into Canada.

Daryl Marquette, owner of TSB Shipping Plus along with his wife, Bobbie, said: “99% of our customers are Canadian, so we are confident in the opening of the border. Without them, we have no business. “

The Marquettes were so proud when they were successful enough to offer health insurance to their staff. After the border closure, they let their 10 employees go.

“Without absolutely no income we couldn’t keep paying for it,” Marquette said. “Telling our employees that they had to buy their own health insurance was one of the worst days in history.”

She cares for them, knowing that some have had to go to a food bank for help.

Scott Elliston, 44, a former employee of TSB Shipping, gets upset when he hears politicians say unemployment is a disincentive to work. It’s hard now that the extra $ 600 in weekly federal benefits has been eliminated. He and his wife have exhausted their savings and had to borrow money from the family.

“I cannot find another job because crossing the border to work is not essential either,” he wrote in an email. “So I’m stuck until that border opens. It gives a little scary.

“I try not to let my wife see how much this is consuming me. I’m trying to stay strong But even the stone cracks. “