Privately funded border wall ordered to keep gate open indefinitely

Officials have ordered a privately funded section of wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to keep its gate open indefinitely, saying organizers failed to obtain required permits, according to BuzzFeed News. The International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), which oversees waterway issues between the U.S. and Mexico, said the organizers of We Build the Wall, which raised more than $23 million, had not obtained permission to build on federal land. "This is normally done well in advance of a construction project," IBWC spokesperson Lori Kuczmanski told BuzzFeed News. "They think they can build now and ask questions later, and that's not how it works." On Monday, IBWC officials propped open a large gate built into the wall, which had prevented access to a levee and a dam as well as a historic monument that begins a series of obelisks marking the border, BuzzFeed reported. "We're going to lock it in an open position until we come into a mutual decision on how this gate is going to operate," Kuczmanski told the outlet. Brian Kolfage, the Air Force veteran who founded the wall fundraiser, accused the IBWC of “over stepping DHS [Department of Homeland Security] and national security experts” with the move. Kuczmanski said the agency had been told the project would be restricted to private land before organizers submitted a letter with “a couple of drawings” requesting permission to build the gate across federal property."It was not a complete application packet," she said. Officials found the next day that the construction crew had already poured a cement slab on federal land and shut the gate upon completion, according to Kuczmanski. "This is policy and procedure, and you don't just come into our property and build first," Kuczmanski said. "We're treating them the same we treat anybody else."...MORE

 The IBWC is part of the Department of State and considers themselves to be among the pinstripe suit crowd. Notice the reporter refers to federal land, whereas tha IBWC calls it "our land", as if they actually owned it.

The IBWC spokesman says, "We're treating them the same we treat anybody else."

That is true. They treat everyone badly.

Kolfage has resonded via Twitter:

The article quotes Kolfage, "Buzzfeed writes lies. I would not cite anything they report. The issue is about to be fully resolved in our favor."

You would think that Kolfage is right about the issue being resolved. After all, The Commissioner of the IBWC, Jane Harkins, was appointed by President Trump in 2018.  In other words, it was a Trump appointee who ordered the gate opened.