[2] Although there was a U.S. border station at Connecticut Lakes as far back as the 1930s, the facility consisted of a small one-room structure, and later a mobile home.

[4] In the late 1990s, some low-traffic border crossings between the U.S. and Canada were equipped with a Remote Video Inspection System (RVIS),[5] which could be used to admit low-risk travelers to the U.S. during times that a station did not have staff on-site.

[7][11][12] Garofalo was later found to have ties to Ahmed Ressam, an Algerian member of al-Qaeda who was arrested by Customs Service officials in Port Angeles, Washington, on December 14, 1999, when he tried to enter the U.S. with explosives hidden in the trunk of his car.

[citation needed] Garofalo pleaded guilty in February 2000 and was allowed to return to Canada; she received a sentence of two years' probation in May 2000.

[13] Ultimately, it was determined that the man arrested with Garofalo was actually Moroccan—he remained in jail until May 2000, when he was sentenced to two years' supervised release and was returned to Canada.