AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
If you stand on the Detroit riverfront and look south - yes, south - you'll see Windsor, Ontario. It's roughly a mile away, right across the water. Two different cities, two different countries, yet they've always been connected. But one of the ways they stay connected is about to end. NPR's Eleana Tworek has the story.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Let me know how many rides I might get (ph).
ELEANA TWOREK, BYLINE: Every morning, thousands of Windsorites leave Canada by crossing the Ambassador Bridge or traveling through the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel to get to work in the U.S. For Detroiters, it's not quite reciprocal. The U.S.-Canada border is just kind of a landmark they pass on their commutes.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Vocalizing) (ph).
TWOREK: But culturally, Windsor and Detroit do share a love of the same sports teams, music and food.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
TWOREK: Given that, it's not surprising that cross-border romances are common.
JOSEPH: We met because we were both using a dating app called Hinge.
TAYLOR JENKINS: The app that's meant to be deleted (laughter).
JOSEPH: Yeah, that's the tagline.
JENKINS: And we deleted it.
JOSEPH: Yep, we both deleted it. I checked.
TWOREK: Joseph and his girlfriend Taylor Jenkins live on either side of the border. Joseph lives part-time in Windsor. He doesn't have a driver's license. He asked us not to use his last name out of fear of repercussions for his family in their workplace. Taylor Jenkins lives in Detroit. They've been together for two years since Taylor liked one of Joseph's photos on the Hinge app.
JOSEPH: And then I responded to that by complimenting her on her smile.
JENKINS: On my teeth, specifically (laughter), not just the smile.
JOSEPH: Yeah, but it was an aspect of your smile.
(LAUGHTER)
TWOREK: The couple often takes turns crossing the border to see each other, usually each day - she in her car, he on the bus. This was working out well for them until February. That's when President Trump signed an executive order imposing 25% tariffs on Canadian imports. Canada hit back with its own tariffs. Then the city of Windsor announced it was ending the Windsor Tunnel bus, the public bus funded by the city that's linked it to Detroit for almost a century.
JOSEPH: I was angry when I saw the news because I thought, this seems like kind of a cynical play - right? - because the city sort of played up the tariffs angle and said, well, look, why are we supporting the American economy? Not everything's about economics. You know, this is actually something that also affects people's quality of life.
TWOREK: I wanted to better understand how the tensions between the U.S. and Canada are affecting people's everyday lives. So in May, I went to talk to Taylor and Joseph and take the bus across the border myself.
I started in the U.S. with Taylor. She's 26 and a fiber artist. When she first moved to Detroit, she didn't realize Windsor was practically next door or, when she matched with Joseph on Hinge, that he was in a different country.
JENKINS: When I first looked at his profile, I don't know if it registered. I just knew that he was going to be close, and I was, like, he's cute.
TWOREK: I asked her how much of her American nationality is a part of her identity.
JENKINS: Some people are, like, very proud of their American citizenship. It is a privilege, in some ways, but I'm also a Black woman in America. My identity - it's not shaped around my Americanness.
TWOREK: Taylor thought about driving more often to see Joseph in Windsor when the tunnel bus service ends, but that would mean additional gas expenses and more time waiting at Customs. She's noticed, on her return trips to the U.S. since Trump took office, longer delays and stricter security checks. The longest she's been delayed at the border was over two hours.
JENKINS: And I've seen, like, arrests happen two cars away from me, which I was really surprised by.
TWOREK: Has that deterred you in any way?
JENKINS: It hasn't deterred me just because of the frequency of which I go. It's funny because there's a few border officers that know me that, like, say, hey, you're back. Is he treating you right? Like, we have, like, a conversation. But with friends, they have said, oh, I'm not doing that any longer. More people from Canada say that to me and actually saying, like, I'm afraid to go across.
(SOUNDBITE OF VEHICLE BEEPING)
TWOREK: I'm here at the Detroit side of the tunnel, trying to find the entrance.
The tunnel bus stop in Detroit is easy to miss, even though it's right up against a busy border crossing.
OK, I think I found it.
It's behind a church.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: City Hall Square.
TWOREK: It takes me less than 10 minutes to clear Canadian customs and get to Windsor. Joseph is waiting for me there. He's 29 and is in seminary, studying to become a Lutheran minister. As we sit on a bench outside, he points out a man wearing jeans and a denim jacket - a Canadian tuxedo. He's blasting music from a speaker strapped to his bike.
JOSEPH: That's the most Canadian thing you can see.
TWOREK: Although he's joking, it's clear Joseph's been thinking a lot about his Canadianness. That's because of the Trump administration's new posture towards his home country and Trump's talk of making it the 51st U.S. state.
JOSEPH: That hits a sore spot for Canadians because that's always been a major concern when you have a much more economically and militarily powerful nation just across the border.
TWOREK: Joseph says some see it as a direct challenge to their identity and sovereignty. And he says even something as small as the end of the tunnel bus is a sign of pushback.
JOSEPH: Especially mayors in areas closer to the border wanting to form a united front against what they see as unfair treatment from the United States.
RENALDO AGOSTINO: It's like we live next door to one another and our parents are fighting, but the kids don't want to play with one another.
TWOREK: That's Windsor City Councillor Renaldo Agostino. He was one of seven counsillors who voted to save the bus. But Mayor Drew Dilkens vetoed that decision, saying he couldn't justify subsidizing a service that had become over budget. Mayor Dilkens declined NPR's interview request, but he said on his social media that his veto was a result of, quote, "the economic threat posed by Donald Trump." Councillor Agostino says he understands the mayor's position.
AGOSTINO: You know, it's tough. Every day it's a different day around here, where one day, you don't feel any of the pain, you know, and the next day, you're angry. But I understand that this is business.
JOSEPH: Like, I go past the brewery all the time. I went to a wedding in the church you can see over there.
TWOREK: Back in Detroit, at the River Walk on a windy afternoon, Joseph looks out across the water and points out some of its favorite spots in Windsor.
JOSEPH: But it is amazing to see how close it is.
TWOREK: Detroit's River Walk is where Taylor and Joseph had their first date. It was a bike ride by the water. But the distance between them is about to grow.
JOSEPH: Both of us will be moving to different cities for a little while. So I'm going to be going on a one-year internship called a vicarage in Waterloo, Ontario, which is about three hours from here.
JENKINS: But I'll be a good 16 hours away from Michigan in Dallas, Texas. So we will have a border between us, but it's going to be a lot further.
TWOREK: The couple plans to stay together and are positive about their future. Joseph says he's going to make the trip to see Taylor once she's settled. And Taylor says she ultimately plans to immigrate to Canada to be with him. They're grateful the Windsor Tunnel bus helped bring them together. The bus is slated to shut down September 1, and they can't help but think about the future of other Detroit-Windsor romances made more complicated by international politics.
Eleana Tworek, NPR News.
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