Paige Adamson, a 61-year-old Canadian citizen and U.S. permanent resident who had lived in Point Roberts, died alone at home on Sunday after repeatedly refusing to seek hospital treatment, afraid that crossing the border for care could get her detained. Whatcom County Sheriff's Office said her death appeared to result from natural causes and was non-criminal in nature.
Adamson's death came just weeks after U.S. border agents detained and questioned her for six hours, asking whether she had voted in a U.S. election, according to Cascadia Daily News. She was released with a notice to appear at a deportation hearing scheduled for November. Blaine-based immigration lawyer Len Saunders, who had been in contact with Adamson, said she was afraid to cross the border twice to seek medical treatment in Bellingham, fearing she would be denied re-entry to Point Roberts because of her pending hearing.
Saunders last spoke with Adamson on October 17, the day before she died, and said he and others had encouraged her to seek medical treatment. Per Saunders, she refused, fearing detention. Adamson's primary care provider was based in Bellingham, meaning any serious medical need required leaving the country-within-a-country she called home for 14 years.
A Border Stop That Triggered a Deportation Case
Adamson's notice to appear alleged false claims of U.S. citizenship, a deportable offense, and illegal voting. Washington state voter data indicated she had voted in past elections, including the 2020 U.S. presidential primary, though she told Cascadia Daily News in September that she did not remember voting in U.S. elections. Permanent residents are barred from voting in state and federal elections and most local elections, and per the Associated Press, noncitizens do vote on rare occasions.
The scrutiny traces back to late August, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection requested Whatcom County's official voter rolls from the Washington Secretary of State's Office to cross-reference voter databases against federal immigration records ahead of the 2026 midterms, according to Cascadia Daily News. Adamson was stopped at the Point Roberts crossing on September 15 while returning from a birthday dinner in British Columbia; CBP officers detained and interrogated her until after 2 a.m., without offering water until five hours into the inspection, according to a post on Instagram
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Saunders reported in late September that four permanent residents or their relatives had contacted him within a two-week span after being interrogated at border checkpoints about their voting history, calling the surge in enforcement unprecedented in his 25-plus years of practice, per the same account. Under Washington's Automatic Voter Registration Act, state agencies such as the Department of Licensing automatically submit customer data to voter rolls, a mechanism local election officials have noted can occasionally register noncitizens inadvertently when they renew a driver's license, according to Cascadia Daily News' earlier reporting.
Why a Trip to Bellingham Carried Legal Risk
Federal immigration law addresses unlawful voting under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(6) and § 1182(a)(10)(D), while false claims of U.S. citizenship are addressed under 8 U.S.C. § 1227(a)(3)(D), according to the Legal Information Institute.
Saunders said multiple permanent residents in similar circumstances were told that leaving the U.S. while removal proceedings were pending could be treated as voluntary self-deportation. Under that enforcement procedure, border agents could deny re-entry to residents believed to have self-deported and take them into custody for transport to a facility such as the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma.
For Adamson, that risk was not abstract. Point Roberts is a 4.88-square-mile peninsular exclave attached to Canada's Tsawwassen Peninsula, and reaching mainland Washington cities like Blaine or Bellingham by land requires traveling 25 miles through British Columbia and crossing two international checkpoints, per Wikipedia. A medical trip to Bellingham meant crossing the border twice, each time with the possibility of being flagged over her pending hearing.
Limited Local Care in an Isolated Enclave
Point Roberts has an urgent care clinic staffed by two physicians and at least one nurse, open since 2003 and supported by the Point Roberts Public Hospital District, which has also offered virtual care options. The clinic provides urgent care, while Adamson's primary care provider was based in Bellingham, according to the Point Roberts Public Hospital District.
The enclave's population is especially exposed to shifts in border enforcement. U.S. Census Bureau data from 2024 shows 42.8% of Point Roberts's 1,288 residents were born outside the United States and 22% are noncitizens, according to Data USA.
