By J.M. Phelps (One News Now)
Private citizens haven’t terminated their efforts to build a southern border wall on their own. In fact, one group continues to take the necessary steps that Congress has consistently refused to take.
Despite a few recent instances of misreporting, Brian Kolfage – founder of “We Build the Wall, Inc.” – wants America to know fundraising for the border wall has not stopped. “The fake news that donations are being refunded is not true,” he tells OneNewsNow. The claim stemmed from his original promise to donors, which stated “anyone who wants a refund can have a refund.”
“If we didn’t hit one billion [dollars] in a timely manner,” he explains, “donors could back out. I wanted to keep true to my word.” Despite that offer, he adds, everyone who donated has kept the project moving forward. Donations are now nearing the $22 million mark.
Kolfage says he doesn’t want to see that “large chunk” of money squandered and given to the federal government. “There is no way that [Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi is going to allow President Trump to get this money for the border wall,” he points out, adding that “they’re not even allowing him to spend our tax dollars [on the wall].”
So he decided to modify his original plan.
“[We believed the American people] were better equipped to start building sections of the southern border wall just like the government is doing, but on our own – doing it on private property where owners want it,” says Kolfage. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing right now. We break ground on our first section this month.”
Filling in the gaps
While Kolfage is extremely thankful that a lot of American citizens and land owners have stepped up, he believes the biggest limitation to building the wall will be funding. Currently, he says, the U.S. government is paying approximately $18 million per mile of wall. However, he contends it can be done less expensively – for as little as two or three million per mile – possibly making 12 miles of wall feasible at this time.
“The sections that we’ll be building are in areas where there’s a huge need for a border wall,” he describes. “We’re basically going to go in and fill the gaps – and there are a lot of gaps out there right now.” With the funding available, Kolfage wants to “fill a big gap” and “make a big impact on the border communities.”
The campaign organizer believes the project will raise awareness and reveal the truth about what’s happening on the border.
“Once we start breaking ground and putting up our first mile, it’s going to make many politicians who are against [the wall] look quite silly – and frankly it’s going to put pressure on the federal government to get the job done,” he adds. “[And it’s] pretty bad [that the citizens of the United States] are coming together to build a wall that the politicians can’t agree on.”
According to Kolfage, ground-breaking will begin by the end of April. The location(s) remain undisclosed “because there are so many issues with the ACLU and other liberal groups who have no case, but want to sue us [in an effort] to drag out the process and slow us down,” he reveals.
The Air Force veteran, a triple amputee who was severely injured during the Iraq war, laments that America is heading in a direction he doesn’t want to see the country go – but he assures OneNewsNow he is “deeply invested in this country.”
Kolfage explains that his campaign, which is the largest GoFundMe campaign in history, actually began because he was “just, frankly, sick and tired of the way politicians have been handling our border policy and immigration.” He says they’ve had ample chances to get it done and they didn’t do it. Humbly, he says, “this little GoFundMe could do something.”
Pointing out a “weaponized” media that doesn’t want to touch his story, Kolfage says “it is important to note that the American people are coming together in a time of crisis to get the job done. That’s what is great about this country: ‘We the people’ can do it.'”
J.M. Phelps is a Christian activist and journalist based in the Southeastern U.S. He is also editor and publisher of the website Lantern of Liberty.
Originally published by One News Now on Tuesday, April 2, 2019.
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