President Trump’s administration announced it is planning to build new barriers that extend within nearly 10 miles along the San Diego-Mexico border.
The proposed barriers would be built near the Tecate and Otay Mesa Port of Entries. U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it plans to build and maintain nearly 10 miles of primary border barrier.
This would consist of 30-foot-high, six-inch-square-diameter steel bollards with anti-climb features.
The largest barrier would be located West of the Tecate Port of Entry and would be nearly eight miles.
East of Tecate, they plan to build a little more than one mile of the new barrier.
The third one would be East of Otay Mesa Port of Entry. That one would be a little over three miles.
Immigration advocates like Pedro Rios with American Friends Service Committee oppose the plan, claiming this would divert migration flows into more dangerous areas.
“Border walls just simply don’t work. They’re not a useful way of deterring migration. They just complicate the crossing and add to how people are affected, harmed, and die as a result of border walls. And it’s not a solution,” Pedro Rios said.
CBP also plans to add nearly 52 miles of improved infrastructure along existing barriers, including surveillance cameras, access patrol roads, artificial lights, and other features.
Last month, through a federal register notice, U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued a waiver of environmental laws that would cover this project.
Rios also worries about the impact the project could have on the environment.
“It’s dangerous to the fauna and the flora. It’s dangerous to the migratory animals that live in the area,” Rios said.
But CBP said they will be carrying out biological and cultural surveys with tribes, federal, state, and local agencies to gather information about the potential impacts associated with the project.
NBC 7 reached out to CBP for comment and is awaiting a response.
CBP is also inviting the public to share their input on the environmental, cultural, commerce, and social and economic impacts the project could have on the region.
The deadline to participate is October 23.
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