SUMAS, Wash. — Things are quiet at Hakam Singh's gas station and convenience store in the border town of Sumas - way too quiet.
"This business can't survive. Not even another month," Singh said.
This is the 16th consecutive month the U.S. border has been closed to non-essential travel from Canada. Canadian visitors come to border towns like Sumas to buy staples like gas and milk because it's much cheaper in the U.S.
Since the border closure on March 21, 2020, Singh went from selling 150,000 gallons of gasoline a month to 10,000 gallons. He says his income at the gas station is off more than 90%.
"This whole business depends on the border and the Canadian customers," Singh said. "Sumas is a small town. These businesses cannot survive without the Canadian border open."
In 2020, restaurant sales were down 26% in Whatcom County, the same for clothing. Lodging receipts were off 46%. Canadians bring more that $150 million to Whatcom County every year.
Businesses have been desperately waiting for the border to reopen.
Last year, the United States and Canada drew up a "road map" for reopening where the two countries pledged to "work closely together" and take a "coordinated approach" to get people flowing across the border once again.
That doesn't seem to be happening.
"I'm kind of sick and tired of hearing that we've been in constant communication and we’ve been collaborating constantly," said Dr. Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University.
Though vaccination rates between Canada and Washington state are the same at 62%, and well above the U.S. at 51%, the U.S. remains closed to non-essential travel.
One key reason our border is still closed is America simply isn't ready, Trautman said.
"Unlike Canada, the US has not developed a system to use at the border to screen for travelers' health information," Trautman said. "We couldn't open the border tomorrow to just healthy travelers, we'd be opening to all travelers. That's obviously problematic with the new delta variant."
"Businesses won't be able to return to pre-pandemic levels until the restrictions on both sides of the border are completely lifted," Sumas Mayor Kyle Christensen said.
A sign on the side of a shuttered building in downtown Sumas reads, "Pray for Our City," as the people look beyond government to a higher power to keep their town alive.
"It's just, we can't do anything," Singh said. "What are you gonna do? It's tough times."
