A cease and desist order was given to a private initiative that built a border wall over Memorial Day weekend, because it was constructed in violation of a Sunland Park, New Mexico, city ordinance, The Daily Caller has reported.
Sunland Park Democratic Mayor Javier Perea said at a press conference that after issuing the cease and desist order to the owner of the property, "it will be turned over to the courts for follow up in the matter," according to KFOXTV.
The half-mile private wall, near El Paso, Texas, was built by a nonprofit group funded by triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage's $20 million GoFundMe fundraising campaign, according to The Daily Caller.
Kolfage wrote on Twitter his organization was given the "green light to build."
But Perea said the owner of the private property on which the wall is built submitted an "incomplete" application and then started construction shortly after.
He explained "There was no survey submitted with the plans . . . there's no site plan developed or turned into the city of Sunland Park," adding "city ordinance only allows a wall up to six feet tall, and this far exceeds that."
Perea stressed "Just submitting an application one day and expecting a result on the next is not sufficient time" and the permitting process usually takes some two months.
He said municipal officials were not allowed access to the work site after learning the private wall would be built.
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