IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. -- A project to extend the border fence 300 feet into the ocean at Imperial Beach will soon be under way.

U.S. Border Patrol agents are coordinating a $4.3 million project to extend a border fence that goes into the ocean along Imperial Beach.

The project is not sitting well with people like Enrique Morones, who is with Border Angels.

"I personally wish there was no fence, because I believe we should be building bridges of communication and not fences of separation," said Morones. "The Border Patrol is doing what they feel they have to do."

The Border Patrol said it will deter illegal immigrants from trying to swim across the border at the beach because it does not look as dangerous as it can be.

"But once we put the fencing in there, people still try to either go through the shifting posts, to squeeze through or maybe to even go around once portions were wiped out by the ocean," said Michael Jimenez, who is with the U.S. Border Patrol. "It didn't extend that far out into the sea and there are still dangerous conditions there because there are strong rip currents."

He said swimming across the border is just one example of desperate measures. Last week, when a man was caught in a storm drain trying to enter the United States. Earlier this month, a panga boat surfaced on the beach filled with illegal immigrants.

The existing border fence is old, rickety and has holes large enough for someone to get through. It only extends a few dozen feet into the water because over the years, a large chunk of it corroded and broke away.

The new fence will be made of steel. It will be 18 feet high and is included as part of a quarter-mile barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The project is expected to be completed in March 2012.