US pauses plans for new border walls at oceanfront park

Aug 4, 2022, 3:49 PM | Updated: 6:13 pm

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The Biden administration on Thursday agreed to pause plans for a double border wall that critics say would effectively destroy a 51-year-old oceanfront park that symbolizes friendship between the United States and Mexico.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus said he wanted to hear community concerns before settling on a wall design for Friendship Park, which then-first lady Pat Nixon inaugurated 1971. For decades, park visitors could easily converse between San Diego and Tijuana but access gradually diminished from the U.S. over the last 15 years and stopped entirely for more than two years.

Magnus, a former police chief of Tucson, Arizona, who took office December, ordered the pause a week after Friends of Friendship Park met with Border Patrol officials to ask for a 120-day halt to construction, which was expected to begin shortly.

“We have heard concerns about the project as currently planned, and it is important to me to be responsive to the local community on this issue,” Magnus said. “I look forward to continued conversations with the community regarding this project during the pause.”

Magnus said the public would have access to the park at least two days a month but offered no other details.

Its design has not been made public but Friends of Friendship Park said Border Patrol officials told the group last week that there would be two 30-foot-high (9.1-meter-tall) tightly spaced steel bollards, like much of the hundreds of miles of wall that were erected during Donald Trump’s presidency. Currently a double wall in Friendship Park is shorter or easier to see through.

Views from Tijuana would be severely diminished, the Rev. John Fanestil of Friends of Friendship Park said at a news conference last week.

“We view the current proposal as a nail in the coffin of Friendship Park,” he said.

On Thursday, Fanestil applauded the construction pause as “a step in the right direction” but Friends of Friendship Park said opening the park two days a month — the minimum that CBP pledged — would be inadequate for a binational garden of native plants, cross-border religious services and other community events.

The National Border Patrol Council, a union that represents agents, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

President Joe Biden halted construction on border walls, one of Trump’s highest domestic priorities, immediately upon taking office, but has allowed work in very limited circumstances. Last week, the administration said it was filling four gaps of an incomplete Trump-era wall in Yuma, Arizona, which has become one of the busiest corridors for illegal crossings.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

FILE - A bottle of Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey is displayed next to a Bad Spaniels dog toy in A...

Associated Press

Ruff day in court: Supreme Court sides with Jack Daniel’s in dispute with makers of dog toy

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave whiskey maker Jack Daniel's reason to raise a glass, handing the company a new chance to win a trademark dispute with the makers of the Bad Spaniels dog toy.

1 day ago

(Pixabay Photo)...

Associated Press

6 arrested in alleged scheme to fraudulently collect millions in COVID aid meant for renters

Six people from Washington, Arizona and Texas have been arrested and accused of fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars of COVID-19 aid from an assistance program meant for renters, federal prosecutors said.

1 day ago

FILE - Protesters stand outside of the Senate chamber at the Indiana Statehouse on Feb. 22, 2023, i...

Associated Press

LGBTQ+ Americans are under attack, Human Rights Campaign declares in state of emergency warning

The Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. on Tuesday.

3 days ago

FILE - People wait in line outside the Supreme Court in Washington to listen to oral arguments in a...

Associated Press

Supreme Court opened the door to states’ voting restrictions. Now a new ruling could widen them.

Within hours of a U.S. Supreme Court decision dismantling a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, Texas lawmakers announced plans to implement a strict voter ID law that had been blocked by a federal court. Lawmakers in Alabama said they would press forward with a similar law that had been on hold.

3 days ago

Gavel (Pexels Photo)...

Associated Press

Ex-teacher sentenced to prison for making death threat against Arizona legislator

A former Tucson middle school teacher was sentenced Tuesday to 2 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to making a death threat against Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers.

3 days ago

FILE - Police officers stand outside a Target store as a group of people protest across the street,...

Associated Press

Pride becomes a minefield for big companies, but many continue their support

Many big companies, including Target and Bud Light's parent, are still backing Pride events in June despite the minefield that the monthlong celebration has become for some of them.

4 days ago

Sponsored Articles

...

DAY & NIGHT AIR CONDITIONING, HEATING AND PLUMBING

Here are the biggest tips to keep your AC bill low this summer

PHOENIX — In Arizona during the summer, having a working air conditioning unit is not just a pleasure, but a necessity. No one wants to walk from their sweltering car just to continue to be hot in their home. As the triple digits hit around the Valley and are here to stay, your AC bill […]

...

OCD & Anxiety Treatment Center

5 mental health myths you didn’t know were made up

Helping individuals understand mental health diagnoses like obsessive compulsive spectrum disorder or generalized anxiety disorder isn’t always an easy undertaking. After all, our society tends to spread misconceptions about mental health like wildfire. This is why being mindful about how we talk about mental health is so important. We can either perpetuate misinformation about already […]

(Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona Photo)...

Desert Institute for Spine Care in Arizona

5 common causes for chronic neck pain

Neck pain can debilitate one’s daily routine, yet 80% of people experience it in their lives and 20%-50% deal with it annually.

US pauses plans for new border walls at oceanfront park