Americans, Canadians anxiously awaiting full reopening of border

In between two border checkpoints, for two nations, sits one monument: the Peace Arch.

“The park is a solace,” said Christina Winkler, who is president of the International Peace Arch Association. “It's a refuge.”

Inscribed at the top are the words “Children of a Common Mother.” It’s a reminder of the close ties between the U.S. and Canada.

Those ties also bind the people here.

“What we have been through with the border closure and these families is really unimaginable,” Winkler said.

“It was so heavily restricted that it was closed to the vast majority of people that would typically cross it,” said Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University.

Trautman said border communities on the U.S. side, which tend to be smaller, more rural and rely heavily on Canadian visitors, have been hit hard.

"It was pretty staggering, especially things like the gas tax. Communities here that are adjacent to the border can put in an additional fuel tax, and that really drew on Canadians who would come over and fill up their tanks when they were going shopping,” Trautman said.