Privately funded gofundme organization erects border wall.

We Build the Wall photo. 

A privately funded gofundme drive called We Build the Wall has begun work on erecting a border wall near El Paso Texas. Fox News. The wall was built on private land and was the first time that any border controls have been erected on private land. The Army Corp of Engineers had originally said that the area was too rugged to build in the area, but the plan went off without a hitch. The project was funded by a gofundme drive that raised more than $20 million. The leaders of the campaign said the spot was chosen because it is a prime area for smugglers and there are very few border controls in the area. About 1/2 of a mile of border fence will be built by May 31st, according to the organizers. Brian Kolfage, one of the organizers of the plan, said they are already planning a second section of fence and asked for additional funds to complete the wall. 

The gofundme page can be found here

My Comment:

Full disclosure time, I sent $25 to this campaign, so I am obviously not objective. Not a huge deal, but I'd feel negligent if I didn't point that out. Not that I was ever going to be mistaken for someone who isn't in favor of border controls, but it's probably relevant anyways. 

As a donor what is my take on this? I'm fairly happy about it. There had been a lot of negative stories in the press that said Biran Kolfage was ripping everyone off and that the wall would never be built. There was some chatter about him buying a yacht, but in the end it didn't matter and some of the wall got built. Just goes to show that you can't trust the media yet again. For the minimal amount that I spent, I'd say I got my money's worth.

I also have to say that so many times during the 2016 election I heard pundits and other naysayers say "if you want a border wall so much, why not pay for it yourself". At the time they were being insulting but in the end that's what thousands of donors did. Be careful what you wish for. 

How effective will this barrier be? It really depends on how much is built around it. If illegals and smugglers can just go around the other end of the wall it's not going to matter too much. From what it sounds like though it seems as though the wall connected up with an existing portion of the wall and ends near a mountain which is impassible. If correct, that would probably, at the very least, force smugglers to cross elsewhere or use expensive, complicated and dangerous workarounds, like tunneling, to get past the fence. 

Truth be told, not a whole lot of wall was built. It was little over a half mile long, which is not much for a border that is almost 2000 miles long. It's a start but it's no way near solving the massive problem at the US/Mexico border. It's a drop in the bucket and much more work needs to be done. 

It also seems as though they built this area on the cheap. As of this writing the campaign has raised around $22.5 million. To get a half mile of border fence for that is a pretty good deal, and it sounds as though not all the money was spent already. If that's the case then the US government is getting ripped off by it's contractors who should be able to build the wall for cheaper. 

The big question now is if the gofundme will continue to gather money. Most of the media is ignoring this story, with most of the outlets covering it being conservative ones. People are talking about it, but the issue isn't trending on Twitter. The media also poisoned  the well by saying that Kolfage was scamming people out of their money and that will have scared some people away. We may see a 2nd wave of donations, but I don't expect it to be as large as the first.