New sections of a border wall being built in California have an anti-climbing feature, according to reports.
The top of the barrier erected at Friendship Park between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, has a "metal wing or wedge, or a comma on its side with the pointy end hanging over the Mexican side of the border like an awning," according to Fox 5.
Pedro Rios, of the American Friends Service Committee, called the additions "techitos," or little rooftops.
"It's an anti-climbing feature that's meant to stop people from scaling the border wall," Rios told the station. "It's the first of its kind along the U.S.-Mexico border."
Friends of Friendship Park shared a photo on Instagram last week that shows the new barrier with the anti-climb feature.
"Division sows pain, frustration, and sadness. Behold the binational garden, where new walls obstruct views across," the group, which works to enhance access to the park, wrote in the post.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment via email. Friends of Friendship Park has been contacted via social media and the American Friends Service Committee has been contacted via its website.
The metal segments added to the top of the new barrier are a prototype, a source told Fox 5. The feature will be added to other parts of the border wall if it successfully keeps migrants from climbing it.
Rios said there are concerns the feature could be deadly.
"We continue to see an increase in people that are falling from the border wall and seeking medical treatment," he said. "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."
He also pointed to the irony of testing the feature along Friendship Park, which was inaugurated in 1971 by then first lady Pat Nixon as a symbol of ties between the U.S. and Mexico.
The park is "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."
Plans to replace the aging border fence in the area were introduced during former President Donald Trump's time in the White House.
President Joe Biden's administration paused construction in August 2022 following community opposition.
But it was announced early in January that construction would continue, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agreeing to lower part of a double-layer wall in the area.
CBP had "developed an approach that meets the border security needs of the area while also addressing feedback from the community," the agency said in a news release at the time.
Uncommon Knowledge
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