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They were turned away at the Canadian border. Now what?


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Toddlers ran through aisles filled with snacks and candies. Adults slumped in chairs. Multiple cellphones were plugged into a single wall socket. Backpacks and suitcases were scattered among the two rows of tables in a corner of this small-town bus stop and gas station. 

After they were turned away at the Canadian border and spent three days in detention, the roughly 15 asylum seekers at the Mountain Mart No. 109 in the town of Plattsburgh, N.Y., south of Montreal, on Tuesday afternoon were trying to figure out what to do. 

They had tried to get into the country at the popular unofficial crossing on Roxham Road in the hours after a new border deal between Canada and the U.S. came into effect late last week

Alan Rivas, a Peruvian man who was hoping to reunite with his girlfriend who's been living in Montreal for two years, said he'd spent $4,000 on making it this far.

"I'm trying to think about what to do now." 

A sense of solidarity emerged as people recognized each other from various parts of their time stuck on the border, along with a sense of resignation and deep disappointment.

"Disappointing and heartbreaking," said a man from Central Africa, whom CBC agreed not to identify because he fears it could affect his asylum claim process in the United States.

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17 minutes ago, Anler said:

Turn yourself in to the authorities and get a free ride home. 

Free ride home?

I guess, but if we could get them to do some farm work first to pay for the ride home I’m better with that.

if I crossed illegally into the states and you made me pick up trash on the side of I75 before you kicked my ass out I’m ok with that.

I was on a saddlebagger in the gaspe,   Needed to get back to the truck quick.

Shortest route was slip into the states, back into Canada.

Would have been 2 am, for maybe an hour.

Hard no.

Crossing an international border.

Much as we are friends, don’t need the bullshit.

 

Edited by Voodoo
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