SAN DIEGO — Construction on a 30-foot border wall at Friendship Park is set to begin and opponents said they were given no warning.
Border advocates said they found out about the plan 10 days ago.
The 30-foot walls would be extended all the way to the ocean with no pedestrian gate at Friendship Park, advocates told CBS 8.
“Thirty-foot walls in the middle of a park would really be antithetic to this idea of cross-border friendship,” said Daniel Watman, with the nonprofit, Friends of Friendship Park.
The idea of a cross-border Friendship Park began 51 years ago, when first lady Pat Nixon landed on the beach in a helicopter to inaugurate Border Field State Park.
Nixon had the secret service cut barbed wire, so she could greet Mexican citizens who had gathered on the Tijuana side of border.
“(Nixon) and all the other officials that were there kind of declared it as the first phase in what they would like to be an international Friendship Park,” said Watman.
Watman remembers when the border patrol would open the gate on weekends to let families visit each other through the border fence.
The U.S. government shut down those visits at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now comes news that the gate will be eliminated and replaced with a pair of 30-foot walls all the way to the ocean.
“There was no consultation with anybody from the community. It was just, DHS consulted with local border patrol, who cited safety for their agents,” said Watman.
The original plan for large walls through Friendship Park came from the Trump administration. Construction was halted when President Biden took office.
Watman said, 10 days ago, the border patrol told him construction was back on again, and an electric gate would be installed for vehicle access.
“This isn't just any old part of the border. This is a special space. So, they’re just treating it like any other part of the border, where they put 30-foot walls in and they put (electric) rolling gates for their vehicles, and that's it,” he said.
CBS 8 reached out to the U.S. Border Patrol and DHS, asking when construction would begin and how much it would cost. The agencies did not respond to messages.
Watman said officials told him the construction is considered a wall replacement project.
Currently, the barrier through Friendship Park is 18-feet tall, he said.
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Editor's note: a U.S. Border Patrol spokesperson emailed CBS 8 the following response on June 6, 2022:
This project will replace the deteriorated primary and secondary barrier located adjacent to Friendship Circle in Imperial Beach, California. The current primary barrier, which included a monument gate, was not properly treated to withstand the corrosion from the adjacent ocean before it was installed. It is no longer structurally sound and is falling apart, which presents risks to Border Patrol agents, community members, and migrants. The current secondary barrier was partially removed in preparation for new barrier construction prior to the pause. While it has been temporarily repaired, it is not structurally sound, resulting in a safety risk to Border Patrol agents, community members, and migrants.
Additional information about this construction: https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/05/27/dhs-address-life-safety-environmental-and-operational-considerations-border-barrier
In the near future we should have more information regarding placement of gates.
WATCH RELATED: Community members call on border patrol to reopen Friendship Park (October 2021)