US decision to limit Canadian access to border-straddling library prompts outpouring of emotion

STANSTEAD, Quebec (AP) — For more than 100 years, people in Stanstead, Quebec have been able to walk into Derby Line, Vermont to enter the border-straddling Haskell Free Library and Opera House – no passport required.

But municipal and library officials said on Friday that U.S. authorities have unilaterally decided to end the century-old unwritten agreement. Coming at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries, the decision is prompting an outpouring of emotion in communities on both sides of the border, which in places has been marked simply by flower pots.

Inside the library celebrated as a symbol of international friendship, Pauline Lussier and Chris Blais put their arms around each other’s shoulders Friday as they stood on either side of the line taped down the floor marking the border. Lussier, a Canadian, and Blais, an American met for the first time that day.

“A line doesn’t separate us, it never has,” said Blais, who held an American flag in her hands while Lussier held a Canadian one.

“Our kids have gone back and forth over this border without any problem at all ... this is all going to change now, and there’s no reason for this,” Blais added.

Once inside the library, Canadian and American citizens have been able to mingle freely across the border line drawn on the floor – as long as they return to the proper country afterward. In 2016, then-president Barack Obama hailed the symbolic importance of the library, built in 1901. “A resident of one of these border towns once said, ‘We’re two different countries, but we’re like one big town,’” Obama said.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, CBP, confirmed that the divide is about to become more pronounced. Starting in the coming days, only library card holders and employees will be able to cross over from Canada to enter the building through the main door on the U.S. side.

And as of Oct. 1, no Canadians will be able to enter the library via the United States without going through the border checkpoint, though there will be exceptions for law enforcement, emergency services, mail delivery, official workers and those with disabilities.

The statement acknowledged the library as a “unique landmark,” but said the border agency was phasing in a new approach for security reasons.

“Due to the library’s location, and convenience of local populations, CBP has allowed customers of the library to access its sidewalk, without inspection, for decades,” the agency said in a statement. “However, during that time, this area has witnessed a continued rise in illicit cross-border activity.”

It noted there have been a number of incidents in and around the library that resulted in apprehensions in recent years, including a person attempting to smuggle firearms in the past year.

Town and library officials say Canadian visitors without a library card will have to enter by a back door on the Canadian side, across a muddy stretch of grass. The library announced Friday that it was launching a GoFundMe to raise the estimated $100,000 Canadian (US$69,000) it will cost to build a sidewalk, new parking lot and wheelchair access.

Stanstead Mayor Jody Stone said the U.S. decision “makes no sense.” However, he said the decision from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration would not affect the close bond between the communities, which share municipal services and facilities.

“No matter what this administration does, it will not change the fact that Stanstead and Derby Line are partners and friends forever,” he said.

Several residents, some in tears, gathered at the border to denounce the decision. Penny Thomas stood on the American side, holding up a sign with a maple leaf on it that said “Keep Haskell open.”

In February, the Boston Globe reported that the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem visited the library and repeated Trump’s taunts about making Canada the 51st state as she stepped back and forth across the line that marks the border.

According to the library’s website, Canadian visitors had been allowed to enter the library by the main entrance on the U.S. side. While passports or visas were not necessary, library officials had warned that U.S. Border Patrol and RCMP would monitor movements and could request to see identification.

Americans offer silent support as they stand on their side of the border to watch a press conference about the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Stanstead, Que., on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)

Pauline Lussier, left from Stanstead, Quebec and Chris Blais from Derby Line, Vermont, hold each other's flags as they straddle the international border line inside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)

A young girl walks over the Canada-USA international border line into Canada from inside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line, Vermont on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)

Byron Wright, left, from Derby, Vermont speaks with Pauline Lussier, centre from Stanstead, Quebec and Chris Blais from Derby Line, Vermont as they straddle the international border line inside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)

Byron Wright, left, from Derby, Vermont, gives Pauline Lussier, centre from Stanstead, Quebec and Chris Blais from Derby Line, Vermont, a hug as they straddle the international border line inside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Christinne Muschi /The Canadian Press via AP)

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House is seen in Derby Line, Vt., on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

Penny Thomas who drove from Newport, Vt., has a tear roll down her cheek as she holds a sign on the standing in Derby, Vt., outside the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Stanstead, Que., on Friday, March 21, 2025. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

A family from the United States enters the Haskell Free Library and Opera House in Derby Line, Vt., on Friday, March 21, 2025. The town of Stanstead, Que., says U.S. authorities have unilaterally decided to "close the main Canadian access" to the Victorian-style library that straddles the border between the two countries. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)

JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.

Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.

Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in the boy's death and another 20 years consecutively for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it all but certain he will die behind bars.

Czuba did not speak during the sentencing. His attorney, George Lenard, didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

The boy's great-uncle, Mohmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that no matter the sentence length it wouldn't be enough. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of that, he said.

Yousef asked Czuba to explain why he attacked the boy and his mother, asking him what news he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not respond, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.

Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict.

The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened.

Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.

Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.

“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”

The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict.

The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.

Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.

She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.

“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who testified at trial in English and Arabic though a translator.

Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.

Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.

Yousef told reporters after the hearing that Czuba was a grandfather figure to Wadee and the family doesn’t understand what “fake news” Czuba may have heard about the war in Gaza that caused him to attack the boy and his mother. People need to understand Muslims before judging them, he said.

“Some people are bringing this war to this country,” Yousef said. “We cannot do that. We can’t bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country . . . we need that to stop.”

Odai Al Fayoumi, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Will County Prosecutor Christopher Koch exits the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Joseph Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

FILE - Wadee Alfayoumi's father, Oday Al Fayoume, seated right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadee at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

FILE - Joseph Czuba, 71, stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse, Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)