At a friendly diner on the U.S. border, patrons react to Trump's inauguration

At a diner 230 metres from a United States border station in Rouses Point, N.Y., near Saint-Bernard-de-Lacolle, Que., Brittany Swift sat with her 22-month-old toddler Milo and her 67-year-old father Keith Hollman on their way back from a ski trip to Quebec's Mont-Tremblant.

The trio ordered a club and some fries as a television mounted in the corner above them aired President Donald Trump's second inauguration into office. Hollman's phone speakers were also broadcasting the ceremony. He said he'd been eager to make it back into the States just in time.

The family has differing political views, but say they do their best to keep those from dividing them. 

"We try to be accepting of each other's differences and try not to talk about it if it gets too heated," said Swift, who lives in Grand Isle, Vt., about 50 kilometres south of the Quebec border, and who voted for Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. election. 

While she was disappointed Harris lost, Hollman said he was "pleased, very pleased" about Trump's win. 

He listed border security as one of his top issues this election, though he's always voted Republican. 

He named the southern border but noted the northern one was growing in prominence. 

"Nefarious folks find different ways," Hollman said.

The diner where the family ate is called Best Friends Family Diner and finds itself at the intersection of New York and Vermont states and right next to the Quebec border. It's also just a few kilometres from Roxham Road, an unofficial border crossing where thousands of asylum seekers walked into Canada before it effectively closed in 2023. 

Since then, thousands of migrants have taken the opposite route — crossing using clandestine routes into the U.S. 

While the amount of illegal crossings pale in comparison to the southern U.S. border with Mexico, the northern border has been getting more attention from Trump leading up to his second inauguration and prompting him to threaten tariffs on Canadian imports if Ottawa does not reinforce its border security measures. 

The scrutiny on the northern border has translated into an increase in surveillance, with camera towers now dotting the portion of the U.S. border known as the Swanton area, covering New York, Vermont and New Hampshire. 

Monday afternoon, about 100 kilometres away on a highway in Vermont south of Stanstead, Que., a U.S. border agent was shot and killed, according to Vermont State Police, who provided no additional details.

Both Hollman and his daughter agreed they wanted the U.S. to keep a good relationship with Canada, though, and didn't believe tariffs would be good for either country. 

"I would love if Canada took Vermont!" Swift said. "They're a good neighbour. We've visited many times," her father said. 

Soon, her mother Lina Hollman walked into the diner with their other daughter; the two had been travelling in another car. 

Lina Hollman also voted for Trump and said the economy and rule of law were factors for her. She said her parents had immigrated from Italy and were able to make a life for themselves and their children. 

"All the things that people think about with the American dream," she said. "This generation, our kids, it will be the first time that they will struggle to achieve that if things keep going the way they're going."

Sitting nearby, Danielle Fogg, 34, and Adam Besaw, 36, were travelling between their home in Waterford, Maine, near Portland, and New York City. 

The couple voted for Trump, having changed their vote from Democrat to Republican in the latest election. They, too, said border security was a priority for them. After Roxham Road closed in 2023, many asylum seekers were stranded in northern states and ended up in Portland, Maine, overwhelming homeless services. 

"It is terrible. It's out of control," said Besaw. "The locals who are born and raised there now become homeless because of the housing crisis and all the spaces are being given to [newcomers]."

Fogg said she'd heard of a rise in violence, as well, in reports on social media and local news channels. She said she didn't particularly like Trump as a person, but hoped his policies would bring change to the country. 

"Who knows what's going to happen? The next four years could be great. They could be terrible, but we're willing to take a stance on something," Fogg said, noting she was disappointed by Biden's performance on security and believed his age affected his ability to be fit for office. 

Besaw said he also did not support all of the returning president's policies, namely the president's stance on environmental issues, which he called "old school and ignorant" due to Trump's support for oil drilling and fracking.

One Champlain, N.Y., resident told CBC News Friday he believed the increase in south-bound migrants travelling from Canada into the U.S. had prompted many Democrats to vote in favour of Trump. 

The 2024 presidential election results for Clinton County — which encompasses several border municipalities including Champlain, Rouses Point and Plattsburgh, among others and whose population totals 78,000 — favoured Trump with 51 per cent of votes.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris came in with 49 per cent. Less than 1,000 votes separated the two candidates. In 2020, the results were an almost mirror opposite: Joe Biden won 52 per cent of votes and Trump got 47 per cent. 

Gregory and Laurie Gaudet sat at the table next to Fogg and Besaw. They said they were taping the inauguration at home and would watch it after their lunch at Best Friends Family Diner, where they eat about three times a week. 

"We love the restaurant. It's just great," said Gregory Gaudet, 59, who retired from a career as a firefighter in nearby Swanton, VT, in 2017. 

The couple said they were lifelong Republicans and had enthusiastically voted for Trump again in 2024. 

Carol Behrman sipped on homemade barley soup at the bar. "Do you really want me to give you my opinion?" asked Behrman, whose property in Alburgh, Vt., is on the border with Quebec, and whose opinion differed from several others at the small restaurant where she is a regular.

Behrman has seen migrants crossing into the U.S. in growing numbers for the last couple of years. But unlike many residents along the border CBC News spoke with, Behrman said the crossings do not bother her. 

"It's not out of control," she said. "I just think people are trying to make a better life for themselves."

Behrman, who lived in Canada for 25 years, said people crossing the border illegally has been an issue for decades. 

"Trump didn't solve it when he was in office [last time]. He's probably not going to solve it now."