Outrage as US border agents cut visit times for divided families

• Border Patrol restricting access to Friendship Park in California
• ‘This has to do with the message of hate that Trump screams out’

Sam Levin in San Francisco
Fri 16 Feb 2018 22.16 GMT

US Border Patrol is restricting access to a park on the California-Mexico border where families separated by immigration laws frequently visit each other, sparking outrage from human rights advocates.

At Friendship Park, which extends from San Diego to Tijuana, US authorities are now limiting meetings to 30 minutes and allowing only 10 people at a time, a major policy change that dismantles what is for many families the only opportunity to spend time with their loved ones in person.

The news came a month after Border Patrol cancelled “Door of Hope” events where officials opened a gate at the park so parents and children divided by the border could hug for a few minutes, fueling criticisms that authorities were adopting cruel policies that serve no public safety purpose.

“It’s outrageous. There are families that come from really far away in the US and Mexico to visit loved ones,” said Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, an immigrant rights group. “It’s a shame what is taking place. A lot of this has to do with the message of hate that Donald Trump continues to scream out.”

A Border Patrol spokesman declined to say why the agency changed the visitation policy. In addition to time limits, the agency said that it was also restricting photography, unless approved by an agent, and that it was entirely cutting off access to the park’s bi-national garden.

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