The Border: Friendship Park At U.S.-Mexico Border Turns 40

Sad irony: Pat Nixon inaugurated the trans-border Friendship Park while her husband, Dick, initiated the "War on Drugs" and shut down the border to try and stop the drug trade and undocumented immigrants. Now the border security fence has destroyed a symbol of bi-national community.

KPBS.org: SAN DIEGO — On August 18, 1971, then-first lady Pat Nixon reached her hand toward a barbed wire fence separating the U.S.-Mexico border and greeted residents on the other side. The event happened during the inauguration of Friendship Park, which butts up against the border fence south of San Diego. But in recent years, the park has become a subject of controversy.

A triple-layer fence — built in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks —now runs through the park, making cross-border handshakes impossible.

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