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The Times podcast: A place of friendship at the border closes

Friendship Park San Diego
Family members can only touch fingertips through the fence at Friendship Park during reunion weekends when Border Patrol agents open up a gate to a small area for no more than 25 families at a time. But it’s been shut down since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
(Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times)
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On the U.S.-Mexico border, where San Diego ends and Tijuana begins right next to the Pacific Ocean, there’s a place called Friendship Park. It opened over 50 years ago and was meant to be a symbol of the binational community that stretches across the border. Friendship Park eventually became an unlikely place for poignant cross-border reunions.

But since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Friendship Park has been shut down. And there’s a good chance it might not reopen. We get into its history and future today. Read the full transcript here.

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Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: San Diego Union-Tribune border reporter Kate Morrissey

More reading:

Once a symbol of binational unity, Friendship Park could close to cross-border reunions forever

Wall going up in Friendship Park at U.S.-Mexico border

U.S. side of a binational garden at Mexico border bulldozed

About The Times

“The Times” is produced by Shannon Lin, Denise Guerra, Kasia Brousalian, David Toledo and Ashlea Brown. Our editorial assistants are Madalyn Amato and Carlos De Loera. Our intern is Surya Hendry. Our engineers are Mario Diaz, Mark Nieto and Mike Heflin. Our editor is Kinsee Morlan. Our executive producers are Jazmin Aguilera and Shani Hilton. And our theme music is by Andrew Eapen.

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