Pembina–Emerson Border Crossing

History

In 1871, Emerson was established as the first land border Customs station in Canada. It was created to protect and ultimately collect duty for trade with the Hudson's Bay Company trading post that was attacked in a Fenian Raid, and subsequently liberated by the U.S. Cavalry earlier that year. The original customs building in Emerson still stands today.

For many years, there were two roads entering Canada at Emerson. The popular Jefferson Highway (U.S. Route 75) entered at Noyes, Minnesota and U.S. Route 81 (U.S. 81) entered from Pembina, North Dakota. All Canada-bound traffic was directed to the brick Customs building in downtown Emerson, which has since been converted into the Emerson Health Centre. Then in the mid-1950s, Canada built separate inspection stations at the border on both roads. The crossing across from Pembina was called "West Lynne" (named after the small village that had been absorbed by the Town of Emerson in 1883) and the larger crossing across from Noyes was known as "Emerson East".

The modern Pembina-West Lynne border crossing opened in 1957 with the completion of I-29. The facilities on the former U.S. Route 81 were closed and subsequently demolished a few years later. Following the reconfiguration of PTH 75 and PTH 29, most U.S.-bound traffic was diverted to the Pembina crossing. The Canadian and American governments closed the Emerson East and Noyes border stations in 2003 and 2006, respectively, and merged rail inspection operations with the ports at West Lynne and Pembina. The West Lynne border station was renamed Emerson following the closure of Emerson East in 2003.

The U.S. border station was last upgraded in 1996; the Canada border station in 1999. Both countries are planning substantial expansion and upgrades of their facilities and road infrastructure, with construction to begin in 2017.

Also located near this crossing is Fort Dufferin, a former Canadian police post, immigration station, and base of the North American Boundary Commission, which surveyed and marked the international border as defined in the Treaty of 1818.

Illegal immigration

The number of persons crossing the border illegally into Canada in the Emerson-Pembina area has spiked in recent years, especially following President Donald Trump's Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States executive order in January 2017. The majority of recent border jumpers are immigrants from Somalia, Ghana, and other African nations seeking asylum in Canada to avoid potential deportation from the U.S. Although persons claiming refugee status are not permitted to migrate to Canada from the U.S. (or vice-versa) under the two countries' Safe Third Country Agreement, a well known loophole allows asylum seekers who cross the border illegally and then report to the local police to stay in Canada while their application to live in Canada is processed. This practice is not without danger, especially during the cold prairie winter. On December 24, 2016, two Ghanaian men successfully made it across the border by walking several miles along the Red River in sub-zero temperatures; however both suffered severe frostbite that required amputation of their fingers. This garnered international media attention and led many groups to ask the Canadian government to suspend the Safe Country Agreement in light of the current political climate in the U.S.