Officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security are moving to limit Canadians access to a library that straddles the border between the United States and Canada.
The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is located between Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont. But, the entrance is located on the US side.
For decades, Canadians have been allowed to visit the facility through a side entrance from Stanstead, Quebec, without going through border controls, according to USA TODAY.
All that will change on Monday when only library card holders, employees and people with disabilities will be able to cross over from Canada to enter the building through the main door on the U.S. side. Come Oct. 1, no Canadian will be able to enter the library through the U.S. side without going through a formal border crossing process.
In a statement to Reuters, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said the petty move was in response 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 did not provided any evidence of drug trafficking or smuggling to support their claim.
Americans and Canadians are slamming the move by the Trump administration.
“Borders are not what they were. But this is taking away the uniqueness,” said library board member Sonia De Paoli, who lives on the Canadian side. “It’s disturbing because the whole purpose of this establishment was to have this wonderful friendly relationship with our neighbors.”
“Vermont loves Canada. This shared cultural institution celebrates a partnership between our two nations,” Peter Welch, a Democratic state senator from Vermont said on X.
Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone said the move “makes no sense.”
“No matter what this administration does, it will not change the fact that Stanstead and Derby Line are partners and friends forever,” he added..
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the library in February. According to the Boston Globe, she taunted library officials by repeatedly stepping back and forth across the line that marks the border and kept referring to Canada as the “51st state,” a reference to Trump’s deranged idea about Canada joining the U.S.
