Right on the U.S.-Mexico border, where San Diego ends and Tijuana begins, right next to the Pacific Ocean, there's a place called Friendship Park.

It opened over 50 years ago and was meant to be a symbol of the binational community that stretches across the border.

In 1971, First Lady Pat Nixon inaugurated the surrounding area here in the United States

as California's Border Field State Park.

And on that occasion, she and others' dignitaries in Mexico

declared that this would be the first phase of what they called International Friendship Park.

I do hope that this will be a common beach because we're such good friends with Mexico.

I don't think we need a border.

But then in the early 90s, a huge wall went right through the middle of the park.

And eventually the U.S. built a second wall for reinforcement.

Despite the fences, though, families and friends separated by the border because of their

immigration status used a park as a place to visit each other.

People could at least walk through a gate in one of the fences and press their fingers

through the mesh wall of the other border wall to touch their loved ones in what a lot of people called pinky kisses.

This cross-border friendship and family reunion and environmental collaboration are really

important and they can't be left aside in order to put in more militarization and enforcement.

But access to that special meeting place inside Friendship Park has been closed since the pandemic began.

And now with an announcement from the Biden administration that Borderwall construction is going to resume in the area,

a lot of people are concerned that the closure of Friendship Park will become permanent,

and family and friends won't be able to see each other up close the way they have for decades.

We save Friendship Park once and twice, and I know in my heart of hearts that we will save it again, no matter what it takes.

I say, si, you say, se puide, see?

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