SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Construction of a wall at the U.S. southern border in Imperial Beach continues, but those desperate to get across are finding ways through the work site.
A video now going viral on TikTok shows about half a dozen people running through the border wall construction site as workers look on. In just 24 hours, the video has garnered over 1.3 million views on social media.
As part of the construction in Imperial Beach, where the U.S. and Mexico meet, crews have been replacing the old border barrier with the new, 30-foot walls.
John Fanestil with the Friends of Friendship Park, the group that has advocated for binational access to the park at the border for years, spoke with ABC 10News about the construction.
"A true disaster; the federal government has proven it’s incapable of coming up with solutions that are reasonable and manageable for the people of the U.S.-Mexico border region," said Fanestil.
Once crews leave after working on the southern wall, which is right on the international line, Fanestil said his team sees crossings like this on a regular basis.
"There’s just a chain link fence, which of course is easy to jump over or cut through, or climb around or climb under," he explained.
Fanestil argued the updated walls won’t stop these crossings, saying state and federal officials have failed to find a solution that still allows access to the park, once known for its binational access, where families could gather to meet or celebrate things like holidays.
"The idea that there’s one-size-fits-all of the border and you just throw up two 30-foot walls and declare it ‘you’ve completed the job’ is ridiculous," said Fanestil.
ABC 10News reached out to Customs and Border Protection in Washington, D.C., for comment about the wall construction and what happened to those that crossed, but the agency did not respond as of the publication of this story.
