Advocacy groups claimed on Thursday that the Biden administration had agreed to lower a portion of the border wall that was slated to be built in the southwest of the country. They dismissed the concession as nothing more than pandering.
According to the Rev. John Fanestil of Friends of Friendship Park, US Customs and Border Protection decided to lower a double wall for 60 feet (18.3 meters), or about the length of a tractor-trailer, in response to public comment. The height will decrease to 18 feet (5.5 meters) from 30 feet in that portion (9.1 meters).
When questioned about the modified design, CBP remained silent. nevertheless, that it “created an approach that fits the area’s border security objectives while also taking into account opinions from the community,” according to a news release on Tuesday. Construction is anticipated to get sometime early this year and last for around six months.
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At a news conference, Fanestil stated that the modifications were approved by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Chris Magnus, who was fired from his position as CBP commissioner in November after less than a year on the job, said he wanted to first address community concerns before moving forward with the Trump-era deal.
The choice was made a week after President Joe Biden commended Mexican President Andres Manuel López Obrador for not erecting “even one meter of border wall,” which is not fully accurate. Biden has pursued modest projects in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, Yuma, Arizona, and San Diego while Trump completed hundreds of miles.
According to Fanestil, the San Diego project contains 0.3 miles of a double-layer wall that now climbs 18 feet. In addition to its height, it will be constructed of closely spaced steel bollards, which are more opaque than the current material.
A building halt at Friendship Park, which was established in 1971 as a representation of links between the United States and Mexico in response to opposition, was brought about in August. Visitors to the beachside park between San Diego and Tijuana could readily interact and speak for decades, but during the past 15 years, access from the United States has increasingly decreased.
Friends of Friendship Park issued a statement calling the idea to “dip” the main border wall to 18 feet for a brief section close to Friendship Park’s center “a token and inadequate gesture.”
The CBP decided to maintain the current protocol of allowing up to 25 persons at a time through a steel mesh barrier to speak with people on the Mexican side from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.
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