Nonprofit unveils first privately built border wall on US-Mexico border
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. (KFOX14) —
The privately funded border barrier in Sunland Park, New Mexico was unveiled Thursday.
Nonprofit We Build The Wall, Inc. gave a tour of wall, which is less than a mile long, that was erected on private land over Memorial Day weekend.
More than $22.9 million was raised to build the wall through a GoFundMe campaign.
The group said donations continue to pour in despite Sunland Park officials halting construction due to issues with city ordinances.
City spokesman Peter Ibarbo said the company had applied for a construction permit but the application was incomplete.
The company said it cleared up issues with the city and has been given the green light to start building.
Thursday morning, construction resumed.
Brian Kolfage, the founder of We Build The Wall, Inc., said the wall was a goal they are glad is finally being accomplished.
Kolfage and others of the group said they sat down with the the land owner who lives on the property. According to them they said the land owner lives in fear with bullets in his gun 24-7 because of drug smuggling and migrants crossing in the area.
The border wall is said to have a life span of 150 years.
Kolfage said his group has 10 more projects in the pipeline but he declined to provide details about where the sections of wall would be located.
Kris Kobach, the group's legal counsel, said We Build the Wall plans to sign an easement allowing Border Patrol agents to patrol the private property without having to hand over ownership of the land to federal officials.
Hours after the news conference at the wall, the mayor of Sunland Park admitted that mistakes were made.
Mayor Javier Perea said the city and the private group building a border wall in that city both made errors in the construction process.
Since Tuesday when a stop order was issued on the property, Perea has received death threats.
"I have not been able to get to the 5,000 emails, I could show you right there. I've seen the headings [subject line] and they go right to insulting," said Perea.
