Fading frontera friendship

Border Field State Park is an expansive estuary in California's southwestern-most corner, butting up against friend 'n' foe Mexico in an unlikely juxtaposition. The American side is barren, all empty beach and nubby ice plants, with a single vigilant Border Patrol jeep keeping close watch on the contested land from a meager perch near the park's main car lot. The Mexican side, or Playas de Tijuana, is all action, clumps of families clustered on blankets basking in the temperate sun, boisterous vendors offering up mango-sticks, carved coconuts, chicharrones, and their female accomplices hawking silver bangles and woven anklets. Mariachi and nortena music blares in the background from a line of beach-side establishments, hugging the perimeter of Tijuana's bull-fighting ring.

The reason why I know what the Mexican side looks and sounds like, is because in these remaining few meters before land meets sea on the U.S.-Mexico border, the dense double-paned and barbed-wired wall tapers into a series of wooden poles (see the image above). Notice they look like unkempt telephone poles, spaced to leave a foot or two of inviting room to accommodate sneaky border-crossing or mango sales (to help give the dry U.S. side some sustenance!).

When I was there just a few months back, a few men crossed from Tijuana to the U.S. side for a 'friendly' football game as soon as the border patrol momentarily drove off. They were engaging and sweet, but knew to dart back to Mexico when the American jeep returned. A couple lay blankets on opposite sides of the border to spend precious time together, peering between and even touching across the poles. In contrast, the rest of the border resembles a minefield of stoic aluminum barriers, over ten-feet tall, topped with vicious barbs.

The beachy Border Field State Park is known as "Friendship Park," but it's a far cry from anything its name would denote. Recent efforts to defend the few meters of open(ish) space have failed, and the last remaining openness of California's western border will soon transform into the impenetrable barricades and walls known elsewhere in the state. Proponents of the expanded border wall cite ecological preservation and increase safety, while opponents decry the development as punitive political tool, and one that will deter communication and ultimately hurt friendly relations between the U.S. and Mexico.

See the recent NY Times article for a quick national update, and the San Diego Union-Tribune for more info on pro/con arguments.

Suffice to say, I love being able to buy a mango on a stick in this land of friendship.