SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — As crews continue working on a new border wall segment near the coast, people are starting to notice that the top of the barrier has a new design.
It looks like a metal wing or a wedge, and can be described as a comma with the pointy end hanging over the Mexican side of the border like an awning.
Migrant advocates like Pedro Rios, of the American Friends Service Committee, are calling them “techitos,” or little rooftops.
“It’s the first of its kind along the U.S.-Mexico border,” said Rios. “It’s an anti-climbing feature that’s meant to stop people from scaling the border wall.”
The Border Patrol and Department of Homeland Security denied several requests to discuss this new wall design and its capabilities.
A source told Border Report the metal segments being added to the top of the barrier are a prototype, and if they keep migrants from climbing the wall, the feature will be added in other areas along the southern border.
Regardless, Rios believes migrants will look for ways to overcome the new design.
“People will continue to try and scale the border wall. The concern here is someone who’s at that height, and if they get stuck, they will probably fall and severely injure themselves,” he said. “We continue to see an increase in people that are falling from the border wall and seeking medical treatment. In this case, if they fall onto the Mexican side then we won’t have an accounting for how dangerous this new feature might be.”
Border barrier, with new fence top going up along the ocean between Tijuana and San Diego. (Jorge Nieto/Special for Border Report)
Another concern Rios shared about this new border-wall design, is the location and where it’s being tested.
He finds it ironic Border Patrol decided to try it out along Friendship Park, which sits on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
“This is being tested out at Friendship Park, a park that’s meant to symbolize the unity between both countries, and people coming together,” Rios said. “This new feature, which will likely cause more injuries, does the exact opposite. It represents denial, represents exclusion and is pushing people away.”
Rios added the money spent on the new design and its construction could’ve been put to use in other areas.
“It’s a waste of money,” he said.
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