| Pembina–Emerson Border Crossing | |
|---|---|
 Canada-U.S. border crossing at Emerson port of entry inManitoba | |
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| Locaiton | |
| Country | United States;Canada |
| Location |
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| Coordinates | 49°00′02″N97°14′15″W / 49.000477°N 97.237634°W /49.000477; -97.237634 |
| Details | |
| Opened | 1871 |
| Website | |
| www | |
ThePembina–Emerson Border Crossing is aUnited States-Canada port of entry (POE) that connects the U.S. city ofPembina, North Dakota and the Canadian community ofEmerson, Manitoba. On the American side, the crossing is connected byInterstate 29 (I-29) andU.S. Route 81 inPembina County, while the Canadian side is connected byManitoba Highway 75 in theMunicipality of Emerson – Franklin.
Over one million travellers are processed at this border crossing each year, making it the second busiest along theCanada–United States border west of theGreat Lakes, behind only thePacific Highway Border Crossing betweenBritish Columbia andWashington state.[1][2] The Pembina border station is the easternmost inNorth Dakota, located approximately 300 metres (980 feet) west of theRed River of the North, the state's boundary withMinnesota. Aseparate border crossing between Emerson and nearbyNoyes, Minnesota was in operation until 2006.
The POE sits along aninternational trade corridor, making it an important commercial port for both countries. It is among the top five Canada-US crossings in terms of truck trade value, which was atCA$16.9 billion (approx.) in 2011. Likewise, around 360,000commercial trucks crossed at this location in that year, which grew to around 400,000 by 2013. This number is forecast to grow by about 58% by the year 2035.[3]: 12 The Pembina and Emerson ports also manage the rail inspection stations next to the former Noyes–Emerson East border crossing, where theBNSF Railway connects with theCanadian National Railway and theCanadian Pacific Railway connects with theSoo Line Railroad, its U.S. subsidiary.
In 1871, the port of Emerson was established as the first land border customs station in Canada. It was created to protect and ultimately collectduty for trade with theHudson's Bay Companytrading post that was attacked in aFenian Raid, and subsequently liberated by theU.S. Cavalry earlier that year.[4] Though no longer active, the original customs building in Emerson still stands today.
For many years, there were two roads entering Canada at Emerson: the popularJefferson Highway (U.S. Route 75) entered fromNoyes, Minnesota, and theMeridian Highway (U.S. Route 81) entered fromPembina, 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. In the mid-1950s, Canada built separate inspection stations at the border on both roads. The crossing across from Pembina was called "West Lynne"—the name of the small village that had been absorbed by the Town of Emerson in 1883—while the larger crossing across from Noyes was known as "Emerson East."
The modern Pembina–West Lynne border crossing opened in 1964 whileI-29 was under construction (the final section of I-29 fromJoliette to the border was not completed until 1977). The facilities on the formerU.S. Route 81 located a short distance to the east were closed and demolished a few years later. The completion of I-29, together with the reconfiguration of Manitoba Highways 75 and29 in the 1980s, diverted most cross-border traffic to Pembina–West Lynne, which supplanted Noyes–Emerson East as the region's main crossing for both commercial and passenger traffic. 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.
Both countries initiated expansion projects in 2017 to significantly upgrade facilities and road infrastructure at the border crossing. This was the first renovation project for the U.S. POE since 1996 and for the Canadian POE since 1999. The upgrades at the border station were completed in 2018; however Manitoba's provincial government remains in the process of redeveloping PTH 75 at Emerson.[1] A proposal was submitted by local authorities in 2019 to establish aport authority on the Canadian side to manage commercial activities and public infrastructure in the vicinity of the Emerson border station. This proposal remains under review by federal and provincial authorities as of October 2020.[5][6]
Fort Dufferin is aCanadian historic site located near the Pembina–Emerson crossing. The fort is a former Canadian police post and base for theNorth American Boundary Commission, which surveyed and marked the international border as defined in theTreaty of 1818. Fort Dufferin was later used as a customs and immigration for steamboats entering Canada via theRed River.[7]
The number of persons crossing the border illegally into Canada (referred to as "irregular migrants") through the Emerson-Pembina-Noyes area increased significantly following then-U.S. PresidentDonald Trump'sProtecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States executive order in January 2017. However, the port had begun to see a considerable increase of irregular migration as of early 2016, prior to the election of Trump as president later that year.[contradictory][citation needed]
The increased levels of asylum seekers trying to enter Canada at the Pembina-Emerson and former Noyes-Emerson border crossings and other regions along the international border have garnered international media attention, resulting in the Canadian government renegotiating theSafe Third Country Agreement with the U.S. government.[8][9]
The majority of recent irregular migration has been by migrants from African nations seeking asylum in Canada to avoid potentialdeportation from the U.S. Although persons claiming refugee status are not permitted to migrate to Canada from the U.S. (or vice versa) under thetwo countries' Safe Third Country Agreement, asylum seekers who have crossed the border illegally in some cases have been allowed to stay in Canada while their applications are processed.
The practice of crossing the border illegally is not without danger, especially during the cold prairie winter. On December 24, 2016, twoGhanaian men successfully made it across the border into Canada by walking several miles along theRed River in sub-zero temperatures but suffered severefrostbite that required amputation of their fingers. A 57-year old Ghanaian asylum seeker died ofhypothermia while attempting to cross into Canada via the closed Emerson–Noyes border crossing in May 2017.[10] In January 2022, four members of an Indian family, including an infant, were found dead in a field near the border approximately ten kilometres (six miles) east of Emerson. The family was part of a larger group attempting to enter the U.S. during acold spell in which local overnight temperatures had dropped to −35 °C (−31 °F) with thewind chill.[11] This case led to the arrest and conviction of Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, an Indian national, and Steve Shand, 50, an American from Florida on human trafficking charges.[12] In Canada, Fenil Patel was arrested in Toronto for his role in bringing the family to Winnipeg prior to their deaths.[13]
