#US installs fence along Canadian border to stop ‘dangerous criminals’

“#US installs fence along Canadian border to stop ‘dangerous criminals’”

August 21, 2020 | 4:21pm | Updated August 21, 2020 | 4:33pm

A cable fence was installed along a section of the border between the US and Canada this week in an effort to stop “dangerous criminal enterprises” exploiting the world’s longest border, US officials announced.

The short strip of cable barrier was put up this week at the Canadian border in Lynden, Wash. and covers just 1.48-miles of the 5,525-mile stretch between the two nations.

A local US Customs and Border Patrol boss revealed the new protective barrier in a video — showing the top cable was also only a little higher than his waist.

But the agency claimed in a statement that it “addresses bi-national safety concerns related to a vulnerable section of the border” by stopping vehicles from either “accidentally or purposely” crossing.

“Locally in our community, trans-national criminal organizations have capitalized on this vulnerable area by smuggling both narcotics and people,” Acting Chief Patrol Agent Tony Holladay.

The barrier “mitigates the threat posed by these dangerous criminal enterprises,” he claimed.

“Currently, there are no plans to extend this cable barrier system across the entire northern border,” Holladay admitted in the video.

Kris Browning (right) laughs as she stands in Canada while visiting her husband, Tim Browning (left), in the U.S., near Lynden, Washington.AP

While the US officials said it helped both nations, Canadian border officials stressed to The Star that the fence was only being installed on the American side.

The paper also noted that the area is best known for Canadian lovebirds to meet their American partners without having to legally cross over, which is currently barred during the coronavirus pandemic.

“It feels like people who are in cross-border relationships are being punished for loving someone from a different country and that is just one more way to try and keep us apart,” said Natalie Hutchison, a Canadian who regularly meets up with her American boyfriend, Joey Camarillo. “Sad to see they thought it was necessary,” she told The Star.

Canadian officials announced Friday that the border would remain closed until at least Sept. 21. Essential cross-border workers like health care professionals, airline crews and truck drivers are still permitted to cross.

Americans who are returning to America and Canadians who are returning to Canada are also exempted from the border closure.

With Post wires