Difficulties crossing the U.S.-Canadian border prompted some Canadian students to attend classes online rather than in person at Aroostook County universities.
Some Canadian residents with student visas reported considerable searches at the border on their way to attend classes, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, told Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on May 8.
The Trump administration’s Canadian policies have ignited controversy on both sides of the border. Besides on-again, off-again talks of tariffs, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are arresting more people crossing the border illegally, even using drones to help. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged Canadians not to vacation in Maine, and some businesses are bracing for decreased tourism because of the tensions.
But in Aroostook County, where frequent and unhampered border crossing used to be the norm for families, businesses and students, education has become the latest battleground.
Canadian students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle reported difficulty in crossing into the U.S., Collins told Noem during a May 8 hearing of the Senate appropriations committee, which she chairs.
“They’re totally legal, they have student visas, but they’re being subjected to extensive searches and questioning,” Collins said at the hearing. “I don’t want us to discourage Canadian students from studying at the northern Maine institutions that we have for education.”
People crossing illegally deserve scrutiny, but the students have legal visas and other necessary documents in order and many have crossed the border for years without trouble, Collins stated.
Noem responded she would look into the situation.
Those border challenges caused some Canadian students to refrain from crossing the border altogether and finish their spring semester online, according to Samantha Warren, the University of Maine System’s chief external and governmental affairs officer.
“I can confirm that the concerns raised by Senator Collins last week reflect experiences reported to us by some of our Canadian students earlier this spring, and that as a result, a handful of Canadian commuter students chose to complete their spring semester courses online,” Warren said Tuesday.
About 75 Canadian commuter students were involved in in-person classes this spring at the University of Maine at Fort Kent and Presque Isle, Warren said. Most were at the Presque Isle campus. More Canadian students participated in online-only programs.
The universities have provided international students and employees with general reminders, such as the importance of carrying their original immigration documents with them, but the system does not offer legal counsel, Warren said.
Canadian enrollment has more than doubled within the system over the past five years, Warren said, which includes in-person as well as online-only students. There were 120 system-wide, 25 in Aroostook County, in 2021. This year, 293 Canadians were enrolled throughout the system, 141 of those in Aroostook County.
Warren declined to specify how many students reported crossing challenges or opted out of in-person classes. No further information is available due to student privacy concerns, she said.
The Maine Community College System, which includes Northern Maine Community College in Presque Isle, has very few Canadian students, said Noel Gallagher, the system’s director of communications and public affairs.
Washington County Community College in Calais, which is across the border from St. Stephen, New Brunswick, had only two Canadian students this year, Gallagher said. No border difficulties were reported by students.
On the Canadian side, CBC News reported last month that the Canadian Association of University Teachers advised members against non-essential U.S. travel, citing difficulties at the border. Of particular concern were those whose research could be at odds with the Trump administration or who come from countries with tense U.S. relations, the report stated.
Canadian students need an F-1 visa and an I-20 from their school or university, which states they are eligible for nonimmigrant student status, according to the U.S. State Department.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
