Group vowing to build border wall puts up New Mexico segment

The Associated Press

5 years ago

In a May 25, 2019 photo, construction workers install sections of fencing for a privately-funde ... — In a May 25, 2019 photo, construction workers install sections of fencing for a privately-funded border fence on private land in Sunland Park, New Mexico. A leader with the group that’s been raising funds to build a southern border wall on its own says they erected less than a mile of wall on private land in New Mexico over Memorial Day weekend. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

In a May 24, 2019 photo, a construction worker watches a section of fencing be moved for a privately-funded border fence on private land in Sunland Park, New Mexico. A leader with the group that’s been raising funds to build a southern border wall on its own says they erected less than a mile of wall on private land in New Mexico over Memorial Day weekend. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

In a May 24, 2019 photo, construction workers prepare footers for sections of bollard-style fencing to be installed along the U.S.-Mexico border as part of a short section of privately-funded barrier on private land in Sunland Park, New Mexico. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

SUNLAND PARK, N.M. — A leader with the group that’s been raising funds to build a southern border wall on its own says they erected less than a mile of wall on private land in New Mexico over Memorial Day weekend.

Dustin Stockton, co-founder of the nonprofit WeBuildtheWall Inc., told The Associated Press Monday that they spent about 10 days moving dirt before starting construction Friday. He says the wall segment in Sunland Park is “mostly up” and should be completed by the end of the week.

Stockton, whose group has raised about $22 million , says they don’t have a final tally yet on the cost, but he expects it’ll be somewhere between $6 million and $10 million. He says the site’s steep incline added to the cost.

The government’s cost for the new walls its building is about $22 million a mile.