Citing border concerns, Surrey school district pauses all field trips to the United States

The province’s biggest school district is pausing trips to the U.S., citing concern about students and staff running into issues with border officials.

Schools in Surrey organize between 40 and 60 international field trips for students and staff each year, and half of them are to the United States.

“That can be anything from sports events, to dance competitions, band recitals, experiential field trips or curriculum-based field trips, as well,” said Surrey superintendent Mark Pearmain.

But after several high-profile cases of U.S. immigration authorities detaining foreign travellers, Surrey’s school trips south of the border have been put on hold.

“Recognizing that we have members of our school community that are Canadian citizens, some are here on permanent resident cards or temporary work permits … the last thing we want is to have a really negative experience for one of our students or staff at the border,” said Pearmain. “Ultimately, we just have recommended to our schools to take a pause on field trips down to the United States.”

The move comes as no surprise to B.C.-born immigration lawyer Len Saunders, who practices in Blaine, Wash.

“I can definitely understand their concern. Since this new administration took over a couple of months ago, you’re hearing of all these stories of Canadians, British citizens, other nationalities having border crossing issues. And so, you know, I can totally understand that the Surrey School Board is erring on the side of caution,” said Saunders.

So far, it appears Surrey is the only school district to take this step. In a statement, the Vancouver School Board said: “To date, we do not have a district policy that prohibits field study requests to the United States. However, we continue to monitor the changing political climate and take this into account as we receive them.”

Pearmain says while Surrey has been the first to pull the trigger, other superintendents are discussing the issue.

“Each district has their own process in terms of how they review field trips. We decided to take an action just to really take it off the plates of our schools to say, ‘We’re going to now pause,‘” he said.

Saunders is betting others will follow.

“You’re going to see other school districts say, ‘You know what? If Surrey doesn’t feel comfortable, we’re not going to do it either,‘” said Saunders.

Surrey’s U.S. travel pause primarily impacts field trips for next year.

“This is when we see the planning for next year, so it’s really trying to get ahead of organizing for next year and avoiding disappointment at the last minute,” Pearmain said.

If issues between Canada and the U.S. are resolved, the superintendent said the travel ban may be re-addressed. For now, Surrey field trips will happen on this side of the border.