Workers are busy putting up a piece of the border wall by the sea, and now there’s something different about the top part of it. The top looks a bit like a metal blade or a sideways comma, with the sharp side pointing over to Mexico, kind of like a little shade.
Migrant advocates like Pedro Rios, of the American Friends Service Committee, are calling them “techitos,” or little rooftops.
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“It’s the first of its kind along the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Rios as reported by Border Report. “It’s an anti-climbing feature that’s meant to stop people from scaling the border wall.”
The Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security still hasn’t commented on the new wall design.
Border Report, citing their sources, said that the new segments of the border have the additional part on the top of the wall that should prevent migrants from climbing the wall. For now, this new feature will only be tested on a small part of the wall. It’s a prototype model that would be further implemented if it brings the wanted results.
But Rios thinks that migrants will find ways to get past this new obstacle.
“People will continue to try and scale the border wall. The concern here is someone who’s at that height, and if they get stuck, they will probably fall and severely injure themselves,” he said. “We continue to see an increase in people that are falling from the border wall and seeking medical treatment. In this case, if they fall onto the Mexican side then we won’t have an accounting for how dangerous this new feature might be.”
Rios also talked about where they’re testing this new part of the border wall and why it’s worrying him.
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Strange location for testing
He thinks it’s strange that they chose Friendship Park for the test. This park, located on a hill with views of the Pacific Ocean, is supposed to show friendship between the two countries.
“This is being tested out at Friendship Park, a park that’s meant to symbolize the unity between both countries, and people coming together,” Rios said. “This new feature, which will likely cause more injuries, does the exact opposite. It represents denial, represents exclusion and is pushing people away.”
Rios also mentioned that the money used for this new wall design and building it could have been spent on better things.
“It’s a waste of money,” he said.
About the border wall and its new feature
They’ve added new, comma-like barriers on top of the 30-foot wall at Friendship Park, which is right on the border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.
These curved metal pieces point towards Mexico, making it even harder for migrants to climb over the wall to get into the US.
Right now, they’re also working on swapping out the old 18-foot wall for a taller 30-foot one at Friendship Park in San Diego. This is done to prevent people from trying to climb over and potentially getting hurt or worse.
“People are already falling all the time and are breaking their backs and legs,” warned John Fanestil, executive director of nonprofit organization Via International, as reported by New York Post. “They’re fracturing their spines and many are dying from border wall falls — and that’s without these anti-climbing awnings they just added.”
This move to make the border wall taller, up to 30 feet, was approved back in 2017 during the Trump administration. Since then, doctors around San Diego have noticed more migrants coming in with serious injuries from falls, like damaged spines.
The wall runs along the edge of the Tijuana River, entering the US through a concrete canal. This area has seen large groups of migrants trying to cross the border together.
The Border Patrol says they’ve come up with a plan that keeps the area secure while also listening to what the community has to say. They’ve made sure people can still get into the park through a controlled gate in the wall.
Fanestil mentioned that the construction of the new 30-foot wall near Friendship Park is nearly done, with the anti-climbing spikes being the latest addition over the past couple of weeks.
