By David Rasbach / The Bellingham Herald
It’s certainly not the wall proposed for the United States’ southern border, but there is now a definite physical barrier along portions of the U.S.-Canadian international border in northern Whatcom County near Lynden.
Crews were seen Wednesday, Aug. 20, installing a metal cable barrier — much like one you’d see in the median of a freeway — along the border on the United States’ side. The work crews were erecting the final portions of the barrier that stretched along the north side of East Boundary Road between Northwood Road to the east and Bender Road to the west.
The stretch of East Boundary Road between the U.S.-Canada Border Crossing along Guide Meridian and Benson Road does not yet have a barrier.
The U.S. Border Patrol, Blaine Sector is overseeing the construction project, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson Jason Givens told The Bellingham Herald in an email, and the project addresses bi-national safety concerns along what is considered a vulnerable section of the border. Givens said the cable barrier is designed to prevent vehicles “from either accidentally, or purposely, crossing the boundary and endangering citizens in both countries.”
Before the project was started, there was nothing to physically prevent vehicles or people traveling along East Boundary Road or Zero Avenue in Canada running parallel just a few feet away from crossing the border other than a ditch that ran between the two roads. The two stretches of East Boundary Road run along Zero Avenue for approximately a combined 2.5 miles, according to googlemaps.com.
“This safety cable barrier not only protects people in the United States and Canada, but it also aids in securing this portion of the border by deterring illegal vehicle entries in both directions,” Acting Chief Patrol Agent Tony Holladay said in the statement from Givens. “Locally in our community, trans-national criminal organizations have capitalized on this vulnerable area by smuggling both narcotics and people.
“The enhancement to this specific border area mitigates the threat posed by these dangerous criminal enterprises.”
Last fall, seven members of an extended British family made an unauthorized border crossing into the United States along the stretch of East Boundary Road and were arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.
The family, which made national news with their complaints about how they were treated in U.S. detainment facilities, claimed they crossed the border accidentally when they swerved to avoid an animal along Zero Avenue at approximately 9 p.m. Oct. 2. But Givens said at the time that U.S. Customs and Border Protection believed the vehicle deliberately drove through the ditch, and he supplied The Herald with surveillance video that appeared to support that belief.
More recently during the coronavirus pandemic, families and loved ones separated in the two countries while the border is closed to non-essential travel have used the proximity of East Boundary Road and Zero Avenue to share socially-distanced visits.
The new cable barrier shouldn’t stop those cross-border visits, but will definitely give a more defined line between the two countries than before.
Last week, the two countries announced that the border closure for non-essential travel has been extended a fifth time. The earliest the border will reopen is now Sept. 21. The border was first closed March 21.
The United States-Canada border is the longest in the world, stretching 5,525 miles, including Alaska.
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