Last year, a Politico headline summarized President Joe Biden's immigration problem succinctly: "It's not just Republicans. Everyone's mad at Biden over migration." In the 2020 campaign, Biden promised a fair and humane immigration system and offered unrelenting criticism of then-President Donald Trump for his cruel rhetoric about and policies toward refugees. But after taking office in January 2021, Biden kept one of Trump's most controversial policies in place for more than a year — the Title 42 edict, which allowed Border Patrol agents to immediately (and inconsistently) use public health grounds to expel large categories of migrants who entered the U.S. illegally. Biden did so while simultaneously allowing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to release tens of thousands of migrants each month into the United States without supervision. Conservatives blasted the policy as "catch and release" and liberal Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer questioned it in April.
Now this scattershot approach has come to Friendship Park, a binational park that joins Imperial Beach and Tijuana. For decades, families divided by the border have met and talked through openings in the fence, the gatherings' purpose and symbolism plain. Access to the fence from the U.S. side of the border closed when the pandemic began in 2020, and now ongoing concerns about the fence's poor condition have prompted the Biden administration to follow through on Trump's plans to replace it with 30-foot bollards — despite criticism that walls that high are driving a surge in deaths and serious injuries among those scaling them.
This is troubling enough. But 18 months into Biden's presidency, no one in his administration has acknowledged the vital, humane need that Friendship Park serves by allowing divided families a way to gather. Present construction plans do not include pedestrian gate access to the park. This is stunning. Rep. Juan Vargas and state Sen. Ben Hueso, the Democrats who represent the entire U.S. border region in Congress and the California Legislature, have both objected. Hueso summarized the problem succinctly: "The operation of Friendship Park does not pose a threat to border security, while the benefits of this iconic site provide a connection between families separated by immigration policies."
Amen. Vague promises by border officials to someday provide public access to the park "once it is operationally safe" aren't nearly good enough.
____
The editorial board operates independently from the U-T newsroom but holds itself to similar ethical standards. We base our editorials and endorsements on reporting, interviews and rigorous debate, and strive for accuracy, fairness and civility in our section. Disagree? Let us know.
____
