Bannon, Kobach unveil half a mile of crowdfunded border wall

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and ex-White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon unveiled a half-mile stretch of privately funded southern border wall on Friday amid questions into the fundraising of their group.

The two men appeared alongside other high-profile supporters of We Build The Wall, a private initiative to crowdfund the construction of border fencing in areas along the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico, according to multiple news reports.

{mosads}The fencing cost roughly $7 million to install, according to The Washington Examiner, and it’s unclear what organizers will do with the remaining $16 million raised by supporters.

“It’s the stories of the American people who drive this,” We Build The Wall founder Brian Kolfage said Friday, according to NPR. “This is a project that was started by the American people who all believed in border security and who believe there is a crisis down here.”

Kobach, who formerly served on President Trump’s commission on voter fraud before it was shut down, added to NPR that the project was an example of the effectiveness of private enterprise at solving problems.

“It shows how quickly a private organization can identify the problem, take the steps necessary to mobilize resources and get to the site, and then complete the project,” he said.

Whether the newly constructed fencing will be of any use is another question. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials told NPR that the area covered by the half-mile stretch of fencing, which is near existing fencing installed by the federal government, was not a high-priority region for construction and was unrelated to CBP’s plans to secure the area in the future.

The project has also been panned by local leader as the work of “outsiders” trying to interfere in efforts to secure the border.

“It’s deeply disturbing when outsiders, like Kris Kobach and Steve Bannon, come in and use our community and people as a backdrop to further their racist agenda,” Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas) told NPR.