Following a two-year closure, the road to Friendship Park is open again. But visitors opting to drive through Border Field State Park instead of taking the 2-mile hike will find that the iconic meeting spot at the U.S.-Mexico fence remains inaccessible.
The 54-year-old Friendship Park, where families from both sides of the border could meet despite being separated by a fence, has been closed since early 2020. Despite previous assurances that it would reopen following recent construction, there is no clear indication of when that could happen.
The site looks quite different since it was last open.
Both the previous and current White House administrations have bolstered security in the area, including replacing the old, deteriorating barrier with a mostly 30-foot-tall fence. Marines deployed to the border under President Donald Trump later added layers of concertina wire to the top and bottom, as they have along miles of border fence in San Diego.
Monument Mesa in Border Field State Park Beach on Sunday. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
In the near future, the fence could also change colors. Last week, the Trump administration announced a plan to paint the entire southern border barrier black to make it more difficult to climb in hot weather. The Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector celebrated the news with a post on Instagram showing pictures of the fence turning black, set to the Rolling Stones song, “Paint It, Black.”
“Border wall makeover coming soon,” the post says.
“There is no Friendship Park to reopen,” said John Fanestil, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of Friendship Park, in response to the recent changes. The organization has advocated for a “truly international park” for years.
The U.S. portion of Friendship Park, which neighbors Playas de Tijuana in Mexico, lies within Border Field State Park. The state park recently reopened access to vehicles on weekends after closing due to storm damage in 2023.
However, the federal government manages access to Friendship Park since it is located within the U.S. Border Patrol’s enforcement zone.
On Sunday, there were few cars in the parking lot, and the fence and park sat empty in the near distance. Even if the park was open, the layers of concertina wire would prevent visitors from approaching the fence as they did before.
Vehicles are permitted to enter Border Field State Park on Saturdays and Sundays. There is a $5 day use parking fee (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“There is no acknowledgement of its intended purpose as a cross-border meeting place,” Fanestil said. “They have treated it as if it were any old stretch of border, and they have destroyed the essential character of what locals have known for generations as Friendship Park.”
The park was inaugurated on Aug. 18, 1971, by first lady Pat Nixon, who had envisioned a binational park along the U.S.-Mexico border.
For some families separated by immigration status, Friendship Park was perhaps the only place they could meet. Despite being separated by mesh fencing that restricted contact and visibility, families embraced those reunions for years.
The park was open only on weekends for a limited number of hours on the U.S. side. It closed in early 2020 in the midst of the pandemic. Later, Border Patrol officials said it could not reopen due to staffing constraints, as many agents had been assigned to process migrants arriving at the border at the time.
On the other hand, the Mexican side of the park is open year-round and is located in a popular tourist destination that draws many visitors and families.
Beach goers on the Tijuana side seen from the beach at Border Field State Park on Sunday. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
The Department of Homeland Security pledged under the Biden administration that access to the park would be reopened once the construction project to replace the border fence in the area was completed.
On Jan. 31, within the first days of the second Trump administration, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson told the Union-Tribune that the plan was still to fulfill such a commitment “when it is deemed operationally safe to do so.”
At the time, the Trump administration closed the last remaining gap of the old fence at Friendship Park. Construction had previously been halted due to a court order, forcing the government to use 2018 funding to resume work. However, officials said then that more construction work in the area was still needed.
Border Patrol officials told Fanestil in a letter in April that discussions about the park’s future would take place once the border infrastructure projects are complete, and once it is operationally feasible and safe to do so.
A bicyclist in the Monument Mesa park area in Border Field State Park on Sunday. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Replying to questions about the plans for the park, a CBP spokesperson said last week in a statement that the federal agency “remains committed to safeguarding the border and continuing President Trump’s historic success in preventing illegal aliens from entering our country.”
“CBP will provide updates as they become available,” he added.
Fanestil said the group is still pushing for an international Friendship Park, which he believed would require a redesign of the space, funding and legislation. “It’s not just opening a gate,” he said.
When Friendship Park was open, Border Patrol agents would open a gate in the secondary fence, allowing people to approach a section of the primary fence right next to a binational garden.
Last week, advocates from both sides of the border celebrated the park’s anniversary, with several events held simultaneously both at the northern and southern border.
Advocates also welcomed the news that as of this month people can once again drive to Border Field State Park on weekends.
Visitors gather on the U.S. side of the border fence at Border Field State Park on Sunday. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
A spokesperson with California State Parks explained the two-year closure in a statement.
“Since August 2023, Border Field State Park has been closed to the public due to storm damage from Hurricane Hillary that contributed to failures of the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant infrastructure resulting in an early seasonal closure,” the spokesperson said. “Subsequent storms in 2024 and 2025, combined with additional infrastructure failures, impacted park roads and trails and compounded the initial damages to the park.”
The spokesperson added that “park staff carried out major cleanup and repair efforts on roads and trails to enable access for visitors again.”
“Historically, the park has been vulnerable to cross-border flows, resulting in sewage-contaminated water, mud and debris on the park road and trails. During a typical year, this flooding will result in park closures from October through May, with the park re-opening in June for summer use.”
While much of the traffic on weekends used to be from visitors to Friendship Park, people also visit the state park to explore the area and its beach.
Some people visited the state park for the first time on Sunday, including tourists from out of town.
Joshua McNeil, from Tacoma, Wash., was visiting with his 15-year-old brother. He said that he had been to the northwestern border before and that he now wanted to do the same for the southwestern border.
“I’m intrigued by the border,” he said, “(We’re here) looking into Mexico as much as we can through the wall.”
Joshua McNeil, 27, with his brother Lucas Bowen, 15, were visiting from out of state and taking photos on the beach at Border Field State Park on Sunday. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
He said he figured there was a time when visitors could get closer to the border fence, so he was surprised to see the “No Trespassing” signs posted nearby. At one point on Sunday morning, a Border Patrol agent asked a couple visiting the beach to move away from the primary fence.
Now that vehicle access is open again, members of a cross-border church hope to return soon. The Border Church holds services every Sunday on both sides of the border.
When the vehicle road was closed in 2023, they moved a few miles east to an area known as Whiskey 8, where migrants and asylum seekers used to arrive to wait to be picked up by the Border Patrol for processing.
On Sunday, members gathered at Whiskey 8 on the U.S. side, perhaps for the last time at this alternate location. They hope to return to Border Field State Park next weekend.
The service began when the Rev. María Santa Cruz, from the Pacifica Synod of the Evangelical Church in America, greeted those gathered on the Tijuana side over the phone.
The worship service will be closer to those in Mexico once it returns to Border Field State Park, but it will still be from a distance since the original meetup spot remains closed.
A Border Patrol officer walks down to ask a couple to step away from the primary fence in Border Field State Park. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
“I hope we can at least hear each other,” Santa Cruz said. She said she misses the days when the church could easily hold sessions for worshippers on both sides of the border in the binational park — even if separated by a border fence.
María Teresa Fernández, who has photographed the area for two decades, said it’s difficult to believe Friendship Park will reopen given all the recent changes. “If there was any hope, I no longer have it,” she said before the Sunday service. “I don’t think it will happen anytime soon.”
Vehicles are permitted Saturday and Sunday for $5 day use parking fee. Drivers pay the money in self registration envelopes at the main entrance at Border Field State Park. (Alejandro Tamayo / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Border Field State Park is open daily from 7 a.m. until sunset for visitors who can walk, bike or ride in, and admission is free. Vehicles are permitted only on Saturdays and Sundays from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and there is a $5 cash-only fee.
Originally Published: August 24, 2025 at 8:49 PM PDT