Twelve athletes are swimming across the border from the United States to Mexico in an effort to call attention to immigrants in a charged political environment.
The swimmers embarked Friday in the city of Imperial Beach, California, and headed south toward a fence that juts into the Pacific Ocean. Kayakers paddled alongside for safety. Mexican immigration officials and schoolchildren prepared to greet them on a beach in the border city of Tijuana.
Supporters held on to the swimmers’ passports during the 10-kilometer (6.2 mile) swim.
Organizer Kim Chambers of New Zealand insists the swim isn’t a protest against President Donald Trump’s border wall or government policy but says an air of “negativity” after last year’s U.S. elections was the catalyst.
