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Catherine Maule grew up in Yarmouth and now lives in Ontario, where she is raising two children with her Canadian husband. She works in community building and environmental protection for a small lake association.
Gov. Janet Mills wants to entice Canadians to Maine this summer in the face of canceled travel plans and significant negative impacts on Maine’s economy. Her office has commissioned “Welcome Canadians/Bienvenue Canadiens” signs at border crossings, and she will participate in a summit with representatives from bordering states and provinces “to ensure that our historic friendship and our deeply intertwined economies will endure for generations to come.” From my home in Toronto, I am seeing “Visit Maine” ads in my browsers and news feeds.
Sadly, we are among the Canadians who have cancelled our annual vigil to the state.
Twenty-five years ago, I moved from Maine to Toronto with my Canadian husband, and soon became a Canadian citizen. But I also remain an American citizen who votes in Maine; my family lives in Maine, and I am eternally proud of my home state. I bring my daughters nearly every summer to spend time with family, but also to know where I come from and to experience the good people of Maine, the beaches and ocean breezes, the local history, the exquisite food, and the vibrant arts culture that are woven into my identity.
But we cannot come to Maine this summer, or any time soon.
What we want the people of Maine to know is that our decision is not about Maine, but the nation to which it belongs, and what is happening on their side of the international border separating 48 contiguous United States from 10 Canadian provinces.
Yes, our refusal to travel to the U.S. is an expression of Canadian pride: We unequivocally reject the U.S. administration’s desire to erase the “artificial” border between our sovereign nations and “make Canada the 51st state.”
And yes, our refusal is a boycott of the administration’s tariffs on Canadian goods, which I think are unwarranted, illogical and destructive to both Canadian and American livelihoods.
But our refusal to enter the U.S. is also moral: We vehemently oppose what we see as the illegal, authoritarian actions of this administration, the disregard for constitutional law and the bypassing of congressional and court authority. The destruction of democracy is repugnant and we fear for the American people.
The final straw, though, is personal safety. We see news every day of violent invasions and seizures by ICE, raids and detentions without warrants. We see U.S. Border Patrol denying entry to or imprisoning visitors even with valid papers, and then denying them due process. This has happened to Canadians.
Since March, Canadian authorities have advised additional caution when traveling to the U.S. Some Canadian companies have advised their employees who travel to the U.S. to delete information from, or simply not bring, personal electronic devices as they could be searched and used as “evidence” against us. My husband’s employer has halted U.S. travel.
Now the U.S. presidential administration is considering suspending habeas corpus — that pesky 13th century concept at the heart of Western democracy that protects all persons from detention without cause.
Is it any wonder that a recent poll from the Association for Canadian Studies showed only 29 percent of Canadians feel “safe” going to the U.S.?
I am an American citizen: I should both feel and be safe in America. But I am an American who has let her U.S. passport expire, an American with a womb, an American who has said unflattering things about this administration publicly and unapologetically.
My daughters are not U.S. citizens. If U.S. Border Patrol or ICE do not like my responses to their questions about why I travel with a Canadian passport, or why my children are not U.S. citizens, they appear to have absolute power over our bodies and our possessions.
People have said to me, “You’re white, and straight. You’ll be fine.” which I think is the most vile and incriminating proof imaginable of this administration’s record and objectives.
We applaud Gov. Janet Mills for resisting what we see as unjust actions by the federal administration, and for efforts to welcome Canadian travelers. But how can she, as a state governor, ensure the safety of visitors when borders are federally enforced, and when the administration is employing increasingly violent and unlawful procedures to eliminate “illegal” immigrants?
As a parent I cannot, in good conscience, put my children’s lives at risk. And it breaks my heart. With my folks on either side of 80, will we ever again be able to visit them in our home state?
