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“Because of the need for the 14-day self-isolation, we are now making separate arrangements to place those individuals in appropriate shelter in order to accommodate the period of isolation,” Blair said.

Why is this illegal border crossing not being shut down?

In January there were 1,086 people who crossed at Roxham Rd. — that was up by about 200 from the previous January, and we can expect a similar number for February.

The overwhelming majority of people who cross at Roxham Rd. fly into New York City, board a bus for Plattsburg, N.Y. and then take a cab to the Canada-U.S. border. That’s where they are greeted by RCMP officers, who help them with their luggage.

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It’s been going on for more than three years now and more than 56,000 people have come in.

It makes no sense that in the middle of a global pandemic, where travel of any sort is being discouraged, where Canadians are told to come home and not leave the country, when other foreign nationals are blocked from this country, that Roxham Rd. remains open.

Yes, I understand that the government says they will test and screen everyone and that they will be housed for 14 days to ensure they are not carrying the virus, but if, as they say, we need to close the border to foreign nationals to stop the spread of the virus, then the closure should include places like Roxham Rd.

Unfortunately, the only way we might see a drop off in the number of illegal crossers will be because the Trump administration began banning flights from many destinations weeks ago. That the Trudeau administration will not close this border loophole, that they will allow people with symptoms to cross at Roxham, proves they are not fully serious on this issue.

Many media commentators and political pundits seem perplexed that the border was not closed to Americans. I wish they were also concerned about this issue, yet like the Trudeau government, they just don’t seem to care.

blilley@postmedia.com