Sen. Patty Murray meets with cross-border leaders

U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) held a roundtable discussion with leaders from Blaine, Surrey and Point Roberts to discuss how the Trump administration’s tariff war and threats to Canada were impacting border towns.

Sitting at the table in Blaine City Hall on April 24, Murray heard from Blaine mayor Mary Lou Steward, Blaine city manager Mike Harmon, Surrey mayor Brenda Locke, Border Policy Research Institute director Laurie Trautman, Point Roberts store owner Ali Hayton and Blaine businessman Gurdeep Bains about their experiences since the Trump administration took office.

“Canada, you are our neighbors, friends, relatives,” Murray said. “I feel like the rhetoric and economic impacts are really having a long-term personal impact between people that we can’t have.”

Steward told Murray that sales tax is down, which is expected to have a significant impact to the city budget. She said businesses were laying off workers and traffic at the Blaine Visitor Information Center had decreased 42 percent in March compared to 2024.

Trautman told Murray that the number of Canadian license plates crossing into Whatcom County was down 52 percent from April 2024, continuing a trend of decreased crossings since March, which saw a 40 percent reduction compared to last year.

The Blaine area is the third busiest region along the U.S./Canada border, with about 5.5 million visits from Canadians coming into Whatcom County, she said. Border crossings had been rebounding from the pandemic, increasing year-over-year, until February.

“We’re seeing an increase in these declines, which is very worrisome,” Trautman said. “It’s still in the early days. Summer is our big season here for cross-border travel. Even if those trends recover a little bit, it’s going to have a very, very big effect.”

Among changes, the Port of Bellingham has reported a “drastic” decrease in Canadian travelers at Bellingham International Airport and lodging is down 12 percent in the county, which is more than any other area along the U.S./Canada border, Trautman said.

Hayton, who owns International Marketplace, the only grocery store in Point Roberts, said Canadians make up 80 percent of her business in the summer.

Hayton said she had Canadian customers buy groceries and then return their goods after they were asked to pay a 25 percent counter tariff at the Canadian border on U.S. goods. “So, the one good sale I had that day was gone,” she said.

Hayton expressed frustration with both U.S. and Canadian border officers using their discretion to enforce rules and said one of the biggest challenges was navigating the uncertainty. She also warned that if her store didn’t make it, Point Roberts would become a food desert. “Eggs, citrus, apples, none of that can come across the border,” she said.

Hayton thanked Murray for her attention to the isolated community. “Most of the people in Point Roberts feel like we’re alone in this,” Hayton said. “We don’t have help. The county’s been completely nonexistent, but your team has been great and responsive.”

Locke said she was concerned about tariffs impacting Canadian businesses and many of her constituents feared crossing into the U.S. Along with other speakers, Locke told Murray one of her biggest concerns was the impact to cross-border social relations.

“I’m really glad to hear both on the economic side, which is really important for both of us to understand, and the personal side too. What you said about the social impact is really in my heart as well,” Murray said. “I don’t want to think of Canada as an enemy, and I don’t want your citizens to think of us as somebody on the other side either.”

After her visit in Blaine, Murray traveled to Burlington to meet with farmworkers and advocates from Familias Unidas por la Justicia to hear their concerns about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Much of the conversation surrounded farmworker activist and union organizer Alfredo Juarez Zeferino, who was detained on March 25 in Sedro-Woolley, including an emotional recounting of the arrest from his wife, Beatriz Godinez. The speakers told Murray they were living in fear and requested ICE vehicles be marked.

Murray ensured the groups both in Blaine and Burlington that she would share their stories in D.C.

“I will make sure your voices are heard,” she said.