Border Patrol bridge project over Tijuana River criticized as ‘boondoggle’

SAN DIEGO ( Border Report ) — For more than a year now, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been constructing a bridge over the Tijuana River connecting one side of the channel with the other.

It’s supposed to give Border Patrol agents an easier way to traverse the river.

The structure will include a 30-foot-tall steel bollard fence, lighting and a 20-foot-wide roadway and a maintenance walkway.

The bridge will have also water control gates to regulate the flow of water and debris to be operated by agents.

Years ago, the Environmental Protection Agency commissioned a study conducted by Zeppelin Floods , a flood prevention consultant, which showed that the bridge could cause flooding in downtown Tijuana if agents fail to open the gates fast enough during a storm or in the event of a malfunction.

Despite the environmental concerns, the project was approved after a waiver was issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security in February 2019.

A year later, U.S. Border Patrol Agent Justin Castrejon told Border Report the bridge is needed because “in this channel there is no physical barrier preventing people from making illegal entry.”

He also stated that “where there is border infrastructure in place, it does help out tremendously,” adding a bridge would be “a great tool for us to mitigate those illegal entries.”

Officials in Tijuana have not said anything about the possibility that the structure could flood areas of the city, but Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, former Mexican Consulate in San Diego said, “there is concern about the possible flooding that could be created by the U.S. infrastructure project.”

In 2020, the cost of the project was a about $260 million, according to reports, though the exact cost of the project now is not known.

“It’s a boondoggle of a project,” said Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee and critic of the bridge project. “So much investment is being made to this area, part of the border that doesn’t need this level of security and what it’s actually doing is prevent people from their legal right to seek asylum.”

Rios also addressed the environmental and flooding concerns involving the bridge.

“The flooding could affect working class neighborhoods in Tijuana, and considering that the waters that are flowing through here are extremely polluted, it can cause greater long-term health concerns.”

The Tijuana River historically has contained high levels of untreated sewage from Tijuana.

Currently, an estimated 40 to 50 million gallons of water tainted with sewage is flowing into the United States through the area on a daily basis.

Rios and others have said CBP and DHS have totally ignored public input submitted before construction began.

“What we see here is a complete dismissal of what environmental groups, humanitarian groups and human rights groups brought forth about building such large infrastructure with potentially devastating consequences.”

Border Report has made repeated attempts to get CBP and DHS to talk about the bridge project and its potential effects, but neither agency has been willing to speak about it on the record.

The bridge is expected to be completed by the end of this year.

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