A new fence has gone up near the U.S.-Canada border, but it’s nothing like the wall Trump has envisioned, and it didn’t come at his request.
The unguarded, black chain-link fence was erected on the Canadian side of a Point Roberts park in Washington state on Jan. 16.
The fence, roughly 30 metres long, is at the end of English Bluff Road in Tsawwassen, B.C., a community within the City of Delta, a suburb of Vancouver.
Washington’s Monument Park, which has grassy space that extends across the border into Canada, is a place where Canadians and Americans have historically been able to meet together for picnics without going through border patrol. It became a particularly popular meeting place during the pandemic when the borders were officially closed.
But the fence means people in Canada can no longer cross into the U.S. park, nor can they meet for a hug while standing on either side of the border.
“This was acting like a common zone where you could commingle without harassment. And now they’ve eliminated that without consulting the community — nobody,” said Brian Calder, a Point Roberts, Wash., resident and former president of the community’s chamber of commerce.
Point Roberts, a community of about 1,250, is isolated from the U.S. mainland by ocean but is connected to Canada by a four-kilometre land border.
James Sandberg, the Delta Police Department’s acting inspector, said in a statement that police recommended the fence be built to prevent people from unintentionally crossing into the United States following a 2023 incident in which a Tsawwassen senior went for a walk and didn’t return home. He was found dead a few days later in Point Roberts after inadvertently crossing into the U.S.
“Following a review of the incident, one of the recommendations was to install a barrier at the end of English Bluff Road, along the border, to reduce the likelihood of individuals inadvertently crossing into Point Roberts.”
The project, Sandberg said, was “reviewed and implemented in collaboration with the city’s engineering team to improve public safety and enhance awareness of the international border.”
Delta City Coun. Daniel Boisvert said the city built the fence without council’s input.
“[The Delta Police Department] just asked the City of Delta to do the work, and it’s nothing that ever came to council,” he said.
Mayor dislikes fence
Delta Mayor George V. Harvie said neither he nor the rest of council knew about the fence before it went up.
“It looks terrible,” he said. “Having a fence that stands out on its own there, I don’t think is necessary.”
Boisvert echoed the mayor, saying he and his colleagues learned about the fence after it went up.
“We in Tsawwassen have that special relationship with Point Roberts … we don’t need a wall between us. We obey the law. We cross where we’re supposed to cross.”
While there was previously no fence along this part of the border, there were and still are border patrol cameras that monitor the area. Many other parts of the short border are marked by a variety of private property fences or, as Harvie described, low barriers that prevent cars from crossing over. The shared beaches do not have fences.
Harvie said that, technically speaking, people aren’t allowed to cross the border at any unofficial crossings and that if they get picked up by U.S. border patrol after having done so, they can lose any privileges to travel in the States.
Signs along the border explaining this are enough, he said.
“It’s important that we ensure that the public sees those notifications and that they’ve determined that they want to cross. And then that’s at their own risk,” he said.
Not about immigration
The new fence’s timing, coinciding with President Trump’s inauguration and his demands for higher border surveillance, is unfortunate, Boisvert said.
“There’s a lot of politics around walls and borders and crossings. But the problems that America may be facing with illegal immigration, that’s not going on here at Point Roberts.”
One local resident that CBC News spoke to expressed concern that the fence went up without consultation with local First Nations. CBC reached out to Tsawwassen First Nation, but a representative said the nation is not commenting on the matter at this time.
Harvie said he will be taking the issue to Delta city council to discuss taking the fence down.
CBC News has contacted the Canada Border Services Agency for comment.
