For more than 100 years, people in Stanstead, Quebec, have been able to walk straight into Derby Line, Vermont—no passport needed—to enter the border-straddling Haskell Free Library and Opera House. Now as part of plans to secure the U.S. border, authorities will end the century-old unwritten agreement.
Tensions between the United States and Canada are running high. President Donald Trump has talked repeatedly about making Canada the 51st state. Each country has placed tariffs on the other’s goods. The decision to crack down on border crossing at the library comes in the midst of these clashes.
Communities on both sides of the border express disappointment over the change in policy. Inside the library, Pauline Lussier and Chris Blais put their arms around each other’s shoulders on Friday. They stood on either side of a diagonal line on the floor. The black tape marks the border.
Lussier, a Canadian, and Blais, an American, met for the first time that day.
“A line doesn’t separate us, it never has,” says Blais. She held an American flag in her hands while Lussier held a Canadian one.
“Our kids have gone back and forth over this border without any problem at all,” Blais adds. “This is all going to change now.”
Once inside the library, Canadian and American citizens mingle freely across the border line on the floor. But at visit’s end, they must return to the proper country.
A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that the divide is about to become more definite. Starting soon, only library card holders and employees will be able to cross from Canada to enter the building through the main door on the U.S. side.
Then as of October 1, Canadians will not be able to enter the library via the United States without going through the border checkpoint. There will be exceptions for law enforcement, emergency services, mail delivery, official workers, and those with disabilities.
The CBP statement acknowledged the library as a “unique landmark.”
“Due to the library’s location and convenience of local populations, CBP has allowed customers of the library to access [the U.S.] sidewalk, without inspection, for decades,” the agency said in a statement.
But CBP noted a number of incidents in and around the library that resulted in arrests in recent years. In the past year, one person even tried to smuggle firearms. CBP cites “a continued rise in illicit cross-border activity” in the area as the reason for the change.
Town and library officials say Canadian visitors without a library card will have to enter by a back door on the Canadian side. The library announced Friday that it was launching a GoFundMe to raise about $69,000 to build a sidewalk, new parking lot, and wheelchair access at that entrance.
Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone says the stricter rules will not affect the close bond between the border communities, which share city services and facilities.
He says, “Stanstead and Derby Line are partners and friends forever.”
Think It Through: What do you think about the changes at the site between two friendly towns that straddle a national border? Is the decision wise, or is it excessive? What responsibilities does a nation have both to promote goodwill with neighboring countries and to limit traffic into its own territory?
The prophet Isaiah foretold a time when God will fulfill completely His promise of protection for His people. We look ahead to a new Earth where no evil-doer will cause harm. Isaiah 60:18 says, “Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”
