By Pablo Jaime Sáinz

For many families, Friendship Park is the only place where they can reunite, even if they are separated by a big wall.

For many people in San Diego and Tijuana, Friendship Park is a place where they exchange cultural and language activities.

For the Border Patrol, Friendship Park is a place that needs constant security, extra agents, and a hassle.

But for Dan Watman, Friendship Park, which is located in the southwesterly-most corner of San Diego County, represents a way to keep alive the friendship that exists among people in Mexico and the U.S.

For more than six years, Watman has organized cultural events at the park through his friends of Friendship Park organization, creating cultural bridges between both sides of the border.

But as part of the federal government’s plan to build a bigger fence at the border, public access to the park was closed.

On April 8th, Watman stood in front of earthmovers at Friendship Park. He was detained and removed from the historic border park and now faces trespassing charges.

On June 10th, his hearing in federal court was postponed because the Border Patrol didn’t provide evidence of a video taken by an observer that day at the park.

“The official gave another story from what I remember, and they confiscated the memory card with the videoâ€