82. International Friendship Park, at U.S.-Mexico Border - A Jagged Corner of the World
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By Miguel Pérez
It's the place where the United States and Mexico meet the Pacific Ocean, where the border fence takes a dive into the beach, where the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo divided two countries to end the Mexican-American War. But International Friendship Park, the mostly deserted beach on the U.S. side of the Mexican border, is also a very sad place, a place where our immigration fiasco is vividly on display every weekend, where people are allowed (by the U.S. Border Patrol) to talk to friends and relatives on the other side, and where holding back tears becomes very hard. Yet it's a relatively quiet place. You don't hear people shouting out names to locate someone on the other side. Somehow, they find each other. And then, through what little space is left by the thick wire mesh within the fence, you see tearing and smiling faces, people demonstrating that love is stronger than borders. If the world had corners, this would be one of them! A jagged corner! |
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Border fence heading west, into the Pacific Ocean
Tijuana Beach on a Sunday afternoon in June
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Border fence heading east, from the Pacific Ocean
On the U.S. side, International Friendship Park
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Small border fence area, near the Pacific Ocean, where people are allowed to talk to friends and relatives on the other side. The scenes witnessed there are truly heartbreaking.
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CALIFORNIA ROAD TRIP!
