We Build the Wall
We Build the Wall is an organization that solicited donations to build private sections of the wall along the Mexico–U.S. border. It started as a GoFundMe campaign by United States Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage in December 2018. Kolfage announced the formation of a 501(c)(4) non-profit organization in January 2019. By mid-2020, over $25 million had been raised and a 3-mile (4.8 km) section of fence had been built. The organization was involved in the construction of walls along the border in Sunland Park, New Mexico and Mission, Texas.
| Founded | 2019 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Brian Kolfage |
| Type | 501(c)(4) Nonprofit organization |
| 83-3040627 | |
| Focus | Fundraise and build the Trump Wall |
| Headquarters | Panama City Beach, Florida |
Key people |
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| Website | webuildthewall |
Its advisory board included politicians and activists with a hard-line stance on illegal immigration, including former secretary of state of Kansas Kris Kobach; former congressman Tom Tancredo; Blackwater USA founder Erik Prince; former Milwaukee sheriff David Clarke; and former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon, who is chairman of the board.
In August, 2020 Brian Kolfage, Steve Bannon, Andrew Badolato and Timothy Shea were charged with a scheme to divert over a million dollars from We Fund the Wall, of which at least $350,000 illegally went to Kolfage for personal use. The men faced federal felony charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Kolfage and Badolato pled guilty and were sentenced. After Shea's first trial ended in a hung jury, he was convicted in October 2022 and received a 63 month sentence in July 2023. Bannon was pardoned by then-President Trump but was indicted in September 2022 on state charges in New York.