A low tide ... and rising tensions - on the anniversary of Friendship Park

In honor of the 40th anniversary of Friendship Park, I am sharing remembrances from my time serving communion at this historic border meeting place. Please see below my signature for my recollection of a most extraordinary day - when the tide was as low as I have ever seen it, and when tensions with San Diego Border Patrol were rising.

I am also trying to raise some money for the Friends of Friendship Park coalition and I'm still a long way from my goal of 40 donations. Can you chip in? The Friends of Friendship Park are community leaders organizing this Saturday's 40th anniversary celebration at this historic border meeting place. They would benefit from your support, so thanks.

In friendship,

John Fanestil

A LOW TIDE, AND TENSIONS RISING

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No two Sundays were alike at Friendship Park. Two things stood out on the stunningly beautiful day of January 11, 2009.

First, the tide was extraordinarily low, and from a distance we could see that hundreds of people had gathered on the beach at Playas de Tijuana. Of these almost a hundred were standing down by the water’s edge, beyond the reach of the border fence (see photo).

Second, there were a lot of people at the park – far more than usual for a winter weekend. Clearly, the word was out that Customs and Border Patrol had finalized their designs. The newly released designs made clear that San Diego Border Patrol was preparing to enforce a total ban on public access to Friendship Park.

As we approached, a Border Patrol agent checked in with us. It was clear that he had been briefed about our presence and was courteous and professional. He asked that we gather at the fence on the beach, but not congregate with the crowds down at the water’s edge as that would make it difficult for them to monitor border crossings. We sent some of our group ahead to talk with the folks on the beach, not wanting our celebration of communion to be confused for an event that invited crossings.

We also told the agent that we intended to serve communion on Monument Mesa, and this clearly surprised him. The mesa was closed, he told us, because it was a construction zone and was unsafe. We told him we were aware of this and that we intended to go to the top of the mesa anyway, as our people had been gathering there for years, in fact for generations. He told us that he would have to check in with his supervisor about this and we agreed that this would be good for him to do. We kept walking.

After waiting a while for the supervisor to weigh in, we decided to begin our celebrations on the beach. Many hundreds of people gathered on the Tijuana side of the fence. I shared with the crowd my belief that what is happening at Friendship Park is of historic proportions. Just as in 1849 the members of the first US-Mexico boundary commission gathered at this site to create the border out of nothing, we are once again at this location trying to decide exactly what the border will be.

At present the US Government is trying to impose a vision of the border that is characterized by fear and hostility and mistrust. They envision a “zone of enforcement” that will run the entire length of the border, and to which no one will be allowed access, from either the south or the north. This is why they have chosen to declare that all public access at Friendship Park will soon be eliminated – because they are trying to set a precedent that they hope someday to enforce along the entire length of the border.

We, by contrast, had gathered to celebrate a different vision of the future. We had gathered to celebrate the border we have come to know and love – a place of profound human encounter, a place of friendship, a place of communion.

After consecrating the elements and serving the crowd on both sides of the fence, a small number of us prepared to climb the slope of Monument Mesa. We had been warned that we would be cited for trespassing by officers from CA Fish & Wildlife, but we had prepared for there to be some consequence and we were committed to make it to the monument. We climbed up on to the mesa, stepped over the plastic meshing that now surrounds the plaza, and began to prepare to share communion. Another Border Patrol agent approached us, told us the Mesa was closed, again citing reasons of safety in a construction zone as the reason for its closure. We told him we understood that, but that we were going to stay and serve communion. He returned to his vehicle, and we shared communion with a small group of people who greeted us on the Mexican side of the monument.

When we returned to the beach below, one of our friends told us he heard a Border Patrol agent call in on his radio, “There are about eight of them (who went up on to Monument Mesa) and I’m not going to detain anybody with all these cameras around.”

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Your contribution is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. The Foundation for Change is a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization (Tax ID #33-0628755) and is serving as fiscal sponsor for this appeal. All proceeds will support the work of the Friends of Friendship Park.