A vehicle approaches the Canadian border crossing at Rouses Point, New York, on Oct. 13, 2000. The checkpoint is one of four scheduled to stop operating 24 hours a day.

Here's a paradox: In a record-breaking year for illegal crossings at the northern border, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency will make it more difficult to enter the country legally.

As the Times Union's Chris Hippensteel reported, the agency is reducing operating hours at dozens of northern crossings beginning in January. Four New York points of entry — at Chateaugay, Overton Corners, Rouses Point and Trout River — will stop operating 24 hours a day and will close overnight.

The changes will reroute cross-border traffic in New York to round-the-clock entry points, including Champlain, Massena and Fort Covington. That's a significant and unnecessary inconvenience for residents of northern New York — and a........

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