US blocks Canadian access to cross-border library, sparking outcry

[groundloop]

Source: The Guardian

The US has blocked Canadian access to a library straddling the Canada-US border, drawing criticism from a Quebec town where people have long enjoyed easy entry to the space.

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is located between Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont. It was built deliberately to straddle the frontier between the two countries – a symbol of cooperation and friendship between Canada and the US.

The library’s entrance is on the Vermont side. Previously, Canadian visitors were able to enter using the sidewalk and entrance on the American side but were encouraged to bring documentation, according to the library’s website.

Under the new rules, Canadians will need to go through a formal border crossing before entering the library.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/21/canada-cross-border-library

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60% of the library is in Canada.

tRump claimed he's doing this because drug traffickers were using the library to smuggle drugs into the US, but the only documented case of smuggling through the library was an attempt to smuggle backpacks full of guns from the US to Canada.

[riversedge]

1. Oh for gods sake!! This beats all!!

[riversedge]

2. "The department provided no evidence of drug trafficking or smuggling and did not immediately respond to a request for a

............In a statement to Reuters, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the US was responding to drug trafficking.

“Drug traffickers and smugglers were exploiting the fact that Canadians could use the US entrance without going through customs. We are ending such exploitation by criminals and protecting Americans,” the statement said.

The department provided no evidence of drug trafficking or smuggling and did not immediately respond to a request for additional information.

In 2018 a Quebec man named Alexis Vlachos pleaded guilty in a Vermont court to charges relating to a plot to use the library to smuggle backpacks full of handguns into Canada on at least two occasions. He was later sentenced to 51 months in a US prison..........................

[central scrutinizer]

3. No action is too ridiculous or too petty

If its purpose is to “own the libs”

[Jim__]

4. And this petty asshole is our president. What does that say about us?

[Dem2theMax]

5. Let's start a GoFundMe so Canada can build an entrance on their side.

A gift from sane Americans to our neighbors in Canada.

[Tesha]

6. Simple, add an entry from the Canadian side!

And impeach the OrangeGenius

[patphil]

7. 4th Connecticut Lake is in both the US and Canada.

My brother-in-law had a camp on the US end for several years. You could easily cross the border on the lake.
https://1happyhiker.blogspot.com/2011/08/hiking-along-canadian-border-fourth.html

[madaboutharry]

8. Canada should put a door on their side and tell Trump to fuck off.

Cut a big door into the building and make a new entrance. Where there is a will there is a way.

[Fla Dem]

9. What idiocy. I swear they all have the common sense of a 5 year old.

Although some 5 year olds have much better common sense.

[BlueSpot]

10. There probably aren't any good books left in the American side anyway, given all the bans.

But it's just another example of what a shithead he wants to be. I honestly think he is just doing it for fun now, if he hasn't been all along.

[AmericaUnderSiege]

11. Yeah, let's just ignore this and keep going as before.

Make the un-Americans exercise some sweat if they make a thing of it.

[BGRD]

12. Canada's Response

I wonder if Canada will build a great beautiful wall sealing off the 60 percent of the library that is on the Canadian side and require US citizens to apply for a visa? It might wake up a few Republicans if they did it.