“We Build the Wall,” the private group that started building a border wall along a section of the U.S. – Mexico border over Memorial Day weekend, has run into a slight problem: Bureaucracy.
Launched by triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage and backed by former Trump administration adviser Steve Bannon and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the private group allegedly didn’t obtain the required permits from the city of Sunland Park before starting construction and has therefore been issued a cease-and-desist letter, as reports say.
“The city has not provided any permits, it has not approved of the construction that has gone up already. They built the structure without authority or any building permits from the city,” Peter Ibardo, Sunland Park city spokesperson stated for The Texas Tribune on Tuesday.
On Tuesday while speaking with local station KDBC, Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea stated that the wall is built on private property but then admitted that the owner of the property submitted a permit application last Friday on behalf of “We Build the Wall.” However, he also claimed that the information provided in the application was incomplete.
“The staff has been reviewing those particular documents and have determined at this point it’s incomplete and the construction of the wall at this point is in violation of city ordinances,” he said.
Perea also stated that city inspectors were denied access to the construction city on Thursday.
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham also issued a statement regarding the subject on Tuesday. Few days earlier Grisham traveled to Washington, to ask the Trump administration to pay for her to take care of the thousands of illegals who’ve been flooding her state.
“A multi-faceted and strategic approach is required for establishing and enhancing border security as well as dealing with the humanitarian crisis on our southern border,” she said.
“No president, no federal administration has done enough on these fronts in recent decades, and certainly not in recent months. But to act as though throwing up a small section of wall on private land does anything to effectively secure our southern border from human- and drug-trafficking or address the humanitarian needs of the asylum seekers and local communities receiving them — that’s nonsense. It takes us farther away from where we all need to be.”
Just to be clear, the work that’s being done in Sunland Park is only the beginning of construction. The group reportedly plans to continue using the money that it raised to extend the wall as much further as possible.
What is unclear is why she has chosen to involve herself in this local dispute, especially given the issues her state has been facing. During a visit to Washington, last week, she begged the Trump administration to reimburse communities in her state for the money they’ve expended taking care of the illegals aliens who were able to cross the unsecured southern border and set up shop in their communities.
Tuesday evening , Kolfage, the man who launched the private group back in December, took to Twitter and blasted both Sunland Park officials and the New Mexico governor for “trying to flex”:
Because of the cease-and-desist letter, all work on the southern wall has reportedly come to a stop at the moment, with both sides reportedly preparing to take the issue to court.
