Community groups are concerned about the Department of Homeland Security's plans to build a giant fence down the middle of a park that marks the westernmost border between the United States and Mexico.
"This is an area where families with members on both sides of the border can get together on the beach and have a picnic, or bring a new born baby to show to a relative on the other side," said John Fanestil, executive director of San Diego Foundation for Change. "All that will be lost if this new fence is built."
The area, officially known as Border Field State Park, is called Friendship Park by most locals. It spans the southernmost part of San Diego, in the United States, and the northernmost part of Tijuana, in Mexico.
Border Field State Park was first bisected by a fence in 1994 as part of "Operation Gatekeeper," a Clinton administration effort to reinforce border controls. The fence installed at that time is a simple chain link fence that visitors can see through as they socialize with friends and family on the other side.
The new fence, currently under construction, is mandated under the Secure Fence Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006. It is expected to be much more imposing.
Representatives of the Department of Homeland Security did not return phone calls and e-mails by deadline, and a spokesperson for California State Parks system told OneWorld she had "no idea" about the new fence's design or route. But observers say there's little doubt what form the new barrier will take.
"If it's like the fencing put up elsewhere along the border near San Diego, there will be two fences made with triple strength concertina wire," explained David Danelo, a former Marine Corps Captain and author of the new book The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexico Divide. "There will be one fence, 150-meter dead zone that's big enough for a vehicle to drive, and then the second fence."
The system, Danelo said, is called Sandia fencing, because it was developed at the Energy Department's Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. According to the organization Taxpayers for Common Sense, Sandia fencing costs $800,000 per mile to install and $7,000 a year to maintain.
**continues**
"This is an area where families with members on both sides of the border can get together on the beach and have a picnic, or bring a new born baby to show to a relative on the other side," said John Fanestil, executive director of San Diego Foundation for Change. "All that will be lost if this new fence is built."
The area, officially known as Border Field State Park, is called Friendship Park by most locals. It spans the southernmost part of San Diego, in the United States, and the northernmost part of Tijuana, in Mexico.
Border Field State Park was first bisected by a fence in 1994 as part of "Operation Gatekeeper," a Clinton administration effort to reinforce border controls. The fence installed at that time is a simple chain link fence that visitors can see through as they socialize with friends and family on the other side.
The new fence, currently under construction, is mandated under the Secure Fence Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2006. It is expected to be much more imposing.
Representatives of the Department of Homeland Security did not return phone calls and e-mails by deadline, and a spokesperson for California State Parks system told OneWorld she had "no idea" about the new fence's design or route. But observers say there's little doubt what form the new barrier will take.
"If it's like the fencing put up elsewhere along the border near San Diego, there will be two fences made with triple strength concertina wire," explained David Danelo, a former Marine Corps Captain and author of the new book The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexico Divide. "There will be one fence, 150-meter dead zone that's big enough for a vehicle to drive, and then the second fence."
The system, Danelo said, is called Sandia fencing, because it was developed at the Energy Department's Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. According to the organization Taxpayers for Common Sense, Sandia fencing costs $800,000 per mile to install and $7,000 a year to maintain.
**continues**
topics:
News,
San Diego,
Department of Homeland Security,
Parks,
Border Patrol
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