CNN By Catherine E. Shoichet and Nick Valencia 6/12/2019
A federal agency has forced open a gate in the privately funded wall near the US-Mexico border, saying the group that built it didn't follow proper permitting procedures.
The US section of the International Boundary and Water Commission says the gate was blocking a government-owned levee road, and that the group known as We Build the Wall constructed the gate on federal land without authority.
"It's not the border wall that we have a problem with," spokeswoman Lori Kuczmanski said. "The problem is the gate is on federal property. You just can't come in and build a gate on somebody's property without asking -- especially not giving them the keys and walking away from it. It's not right."
Representatives of the commission removed a private lock and padlocked the gate open Monday afternoon, she said.
By Tuesday night, the agency's presidentially appointed commissioner had decided the gate would be closed at night due to security concerns, but kept open during the day, Kuczmanski said.
We Build the Wall founder Brian Kolfage slammed the commission in a series of social media posts Tuesday, accusing the federal agency of overreaching its authority and calling for its presidentially appointed commissioner to resign.
In a statement to CNN, Kolfage said his group's attorneys are working on the matter -- comparing the situation to a permitting dispute with city officials in Sunland Park, New Mexico that was resolved after city officials issued a "cease and desist" notice temporarily blocking construction.
"Just like we saw with the City of Sunland Park, we will prevail," Kolfage said Tuesday. "Our lawyers have been working on this for weeks and we will regain control over the gate shortly."
On Wednesday, Kolfage told CNN the gate was back under his group's control.
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https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/11/us/private-border-wall-gate/index.html
