Separated by only a few miles, geographic quirk forces families apart during pandemic

Judy Woodruff:

During this pandemic, we have all been isolated more than usual. We have cut back on seeing friends, going to concerts and dining in at restaurants.

But, as John Yang reports, for the residents of one town in Washington state, it is an entirely different experience.

John Yang:

Bill Meursing's home has lots of room outside and inside, great for weekend visits from son Jeff and grandkids.

Bill Meursing:

We go to the beach and get rocks and paint. We have tea parties here with the grandchildren.

Jeff Meursing:

It's an amazing community down there, awesome beaches, great places to go.

John Yang:

They live just about 20 miles from each other, Jeff in Vancouver, Canada, with his wife and two daughters, Bill and Jeff's stepmother in Point Roberts, a small community on the tip of a peninsula just to the south.

But these days, Bill and his granddaughters might as well be on opposite sides of the world.

Bill Meursing:

It tears me up not to be able to take one by the hand and go somewhere and buy an ice cream.

John Yang:

Through a quirk of history and geography, the five square miles that make up Point Roberts may be attached to Canada, but it's in Washington state, across an international border that, because of the pandemic, has been closed to nonessential travel for an entire year.

Brian Calder:

The big cement monument is the border, and the other side is Canada. Obviously, our side as the USA.

John Yang:

Brian Calder is president of the Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce. He showed us the beaches and bay that make the area so attractive as a weekend and summer getaway for Canadians, who own three-quarters of the private homes.

Brian Calder:

And they'd be on the water out here even at this time of the year every weekend, big time. And here, nothing, no boats, no people, nothing.

John Yang:

Two other American communities, Northwest Angle, Minnesota, and Hyder, Alaska, are also only accessible by land from Canada. But their populations are much smaller than Point Roberts, and Canada doesn't require their residents to quarantine after entering the country for food or doctor's appointments.

When Point Roberts residents leave, they have to drive straight to Washington state, a 25-mile trip, without making any stops in Canada. In a statement to the "NewsHour," the Canadian Public Health Agency said it doesn't exempt Point Roberts residents from quarantining because they have access to the necessities of life within their own community.

Gail Kendall:

It feels almost like I have been punished, like I'm in jail.

John Yang:

Gail Kendall and her family have lived in Point Roberts for 22 years.

Gail Kendall:

You have to ask permission to leave. It can't just be something I feel like is essential to my life. It has to be essential according to a government.

John Yang:

Not only are Point Roberts residents prevented from leaving. Canadians, whose spending is crucial to the local economy, are prevented from entering.

The town's only grocery store, called the Marketplace, has stayed open even though it's losing money. The few restaurants have reduced their hours.

Brian Calder of the Chamber of Commerce.

How much longer can you sustain this?

Brian Calder:

If the marketplace closed, you will have these people storming the border. We're already suffering health-wise. Seniors are suffering unnecessarily. And it's gone on far too long.

Lisa Heidle:

It's been, I would almost say, a rude awakening for many of us.

John Yang:

Lisa Heidle moved cross-country from Maine to Point Roberts two years ago, attracted by its natural beauty, slower pace of life, low crime rate, and now a low incidence of COVID, so far, just a single case.

Lisa Heidle:

The border is a paradox. It's keeping us safe. And it's keeping us locked in.

John Yang:

Before the pandemic, Pilates instructor Marcia Rosales sent her 3-year-old son Wren (ph) to day care in Vancouver because there isn't any in Point Roberts. Now she has to be a stay-at-home mom.

Marcia Rosales:

I'm fatigued. I'm fatigued about the whole border situation. I'm fatigued about COVID and just kind of, I guess, being in this space right now, because I was always a career woman. I was always driven. I had a successful career.

And now I feel like — I'm like, what am I going to do?

(LAUGHTER)

John Yang:

Bill and Jeff Meursing feel that frustration on a very personal level.

Jeff Meursing:

Everybody during this pandemic has experienced loss in some sort of fashion. And this is ours.

John Yang:

But out of that loss, a new ritual. Every couple of weeks, they each drive to a residential neighborhood on the Canadian side that butts up against a road on the American side. The divided family stands on their respective sides of the low barrier that marks the border.

Bill and his wife will soon get their second vaccine shot. Then the border will be the only thing keeping the generations apart.

Have you thought about what you're going to do when the border finally opens up again?

Jeff Meursing:

I want to cross that border with my family and get to enjoy — have them enjoy their grandparents again.

Bill Meursing:

What would enjoy here in the house here, have some good laughs and look back at this whole thing after all, thank God it's over.

John Yang:

A day they hope comes sooner, rather than later.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.