By Martin Arvizu

In what is a sadly and symbolic gesture by the United States Border Patrol, Friendship Park, a plaza that allowed Mexicans and Americans to gather at either side of the border, will be demolished to make way for a dirt road and a fence, making it off-limits to the public. The park, according to the story by Elliot Spagat, reporter for the San Jose Mercury News, was dedicated to former first lady Pat Nixon in the 1970s. According to the story the park actually held religious services and yoga classes for people on both sides of the border. It is actually a rather beautiful idea which will now be turned into the opposite of what it stood for. What was once a place for conciliation and integration will now be replaced by something intended to create the opposite.

According to the story, Mike Fisher, the Border Patrol’s San Diego sector chief said that the park was being used to pass drugs and immigration documents. “The whole area, from a threat and vulnerability standpoint, was being exploited by criminals,” he said.

I am not sure if Mr. Fisher is aware of it or not but a lot of areas along the border are being exploited by criminals, as well as migrants.

U.S Reps. Susan Davis and Bob Filner, both San Diego Democrats, along with state and local officials attempted to have President-elect Barack Obama and his team to keep the park open, but apparently to no avail.

I have been to San Diego, twice, but unfortunately never visited the park which supposedly sits right on the ocean. It is really, truly sad that such a place which I imagine had a great view and represented one of the more righteous and just aspects of human nature had to give way to our darker, more insecure side.

So criminals exploited it? That is what criminals do. They find ways to break the law. I am sure they could have simply placed border patrol agents there to monitor any illegal activities. Criminals exploit any area they can use to make profits, but not every place they exploit is torn down.

I would hate to believe that the Border Patrol is sending a message to Mexico and Mexicans. I know that the Border Patrol has lost agents to drug dealers and other criminals. They have had rocks thrown at them by people in Tijuana and are understandably frustrated by the porous border and the inefficient matter that the federal government had dealt with it. I hope this is not some sort of payback as the only people hurt by it will be those Mexicans and Americans who used this park for the purposes it was intended, and not the criminals who will simply move further down the border to continue their activities.