Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea issued a cease-and-desist to a group privately building portions of the wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, arguing that they did not possess a construction permit.
The group, called We Build The Wall, recently started erecting a fence along a portion of the border wall on private land, funding the construction with money obtained through a GoFundMe fundraiser. Their aim is to raise $1 billion to help President Donald Trump with building the barrier along the southern border. So far, the group led by Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage has raised over $22 million.
Over the weekend, We Build The Wall posted images and a video of the wall being built in southern New Mexico, but on Tuesday Perea determined that they did not have the required permits for construction, subsequently issuing the cease-and-desist, Newsweek reports.
“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,” said Sunland Park spokesperson Peter Ibardo.
He added that the group filed an application form, but that it was incomplete and thus the city did not issue a permit for construction.
Perea, on his part, said that the construction violated city ordinances on structure height and that the application for construction was never returned to the city by American Eagle Brick, the company which owns the piece of land where the wall was partially built.
Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who now sits on the group’s advisory board, claimed that before the construction began, inspectors were present at the site, but Ibardo dismissed the statement as false, saying that inspectors were not allowed to visit the site.
In a Facebook post Monday, Kolfage said the group was planning a second wall, although he did not provide further details as to when construction would begin.
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