When the refugee crisis hit, American taxi driver Mary Ann started transporting asylum seekers to the Canadian border at Roxham Road. The people she’s helped have changed her world. #CBCShortDocs #RoadToRoxham
The Canadian border has been closed since March 21 due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
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At the end of a dead-end road in northern New York, over 50,000 asylum seekers have entered Canada via irregular border crossings. At the apex of the largest global movement of displaced peoples and ever-tightening immigration policy in the United States, a taxi industry in Plattsburgh, New York has emerged to service asylum seekers seeking refuge in Canada.
Mary Ann Ero, the owner-operator of Spanky’s Taxi, runs a local transportation service exclusively for these passengers, many of whom are terrified of being deported to their home countries by the current U.S. administration. Over the last three years, she has driven thousands of these asylum seekers to the Canadian border.
Taxi drivers in this area have developed into de facto border crossing guides, offering advice and a way out to people fearful of losing their immigration status in the U.S. For a set price, Mary Ann Ero, George Ero (related) and Michael Martineau - and their respective taxi services - will get you there.
It’s fairly easy to reach Plattsburgh, which lies 25 miles south of the Canadian border. However, once an asylum seeker arrives, there are few options available to reach the border crossing up the rural country Roxham Road. This is where the local taxi community of Plattsburgh and the surrounding counties come in. They service the bus, airport and train stations, looking for anyone arriving with more luggage than they might reasonably need for a weekend in Plattsburgh. Asylum seekers who use these services and successfully cross into Canada recommend the drivers to their families, friends, and communities, creating exponential growth and word-of-mouth reputation within the asylum industry.
These drivers, among others, have successfully filled the transportation gap, but at a heavy economic and ethical price. In the first few years of high demand, it was discovered price gouging was taking place in the taxi driver community: some drivers were charging asylum seekers $100+ per person to be dropped off at Roxham Road. After an attempt at regulation by New York State’s Attorney General, the price has been set to a maximum of $90 per family. The taxi drivers in Plattsburgh, New York are still operating, shuttling asylum seekers to the border whenever the demand arises. The question of whether price gouging is still going on within the community remains unanswered.
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