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By Miriam Raftery
April 3, 2020 (Tecate) – Along the California-Mexico border at Tecate in San Diego’s East County, construction of the border wall is being done by workers not maintaining social distancing or wearing masks—despite national, state and county emergency declarations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Construction is deemed an essential business under California’s emergency order and the Trump administration has specifically deemed building the border wall essential. But why are no precautions being taken to protect the health of workers and the public?
ECM tried calling Homeland Security to ask this question, but the call was disconnected. We called and left a message for Congressman Juan Vargas’ staff, since the site is in his district, but nobody called back. We emailed Supervisor Dianne Jacob’s staffer, who advised contacting the Sheriff to ask about enforcement. We e-mailed the Sheriff’s media contact on April 1 and have not received a response.
Veronica Lavarello, who took this video on March 31, 2020, calls the coronavirus situation “scary.” She fears the workers could be “creating more cases where COVID-19 can be spread 1.5 miles east of the border entrance.”
The section of wall shown here is replacing an old section partially removed before the COVID-19 emergency declarations.
Lavarello says, “What is outrageous is that they are wearing no protective gear in the middle of a pandemic.” Ironically, she says many of the workers hired by the private contractor building the wall are Mexican or of Mexican descent.
As a binational resident, Lavarello is concerned not only about the U.S. not regulation the construction protocols to prevent illness. She says that in Mexico, the government is not doing enough to prevent the a severe outbreak. “People continue to ride on crowded buses and wat at bus stops very near each other.” Mexico has 1,500 confirmed cases and 50 deaths, but testing is not widely available so the real number is likely far higher. The U.S., by contrast, has over 265,000 cases and nearly a thousand deaths to date. (See live updates at this database: https://ncov2019.live/data )
Meanwhile some jurisdictions are taking steps to mandate protections for construction workers. San Francisco has limited the types of construction projects that can take place. Los Angeles has issued new requirements for all construction projects, including requirements to maintain social distancing , provide personal protective equipment, keep sick workers home, have hand washing stations and hand sanitizers available, and designate a COVID-19 supervisor who must be present at the site, the Los Angeles Times reports.
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