GoFundMe raises more than $60K for ladders to help immigrants get over Trump's border wall

Lauren Holter
People opposed to President Trump’s proposed border wall started a fundraiser to buy ladders for immigrants. (Photo: Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images)
People opposed to President Trump’s proposed border wall started a fundraiser to buy ladders for immigrants. (Photo: Guillermo Arias/AFP/Getty Images)

Critics of President Trump’s proposed border wall have a seemingly simple plan to help immigrants circumvent any physical barricades the president may build at the border.

A “Ladders to Get Over Trump’s Wall” GoFundMe has raised more than $60,000 to “make sure ladders are ready to send” to immigrants trying to get to the United States. But the real goal of the fundraiser goes way beyond ladders.

The GoFundMe campaign was the brainchild of Twitter user @HoarseWisperer and Charlotte Clymer as the president threatened to shut down the government if Congress didn’t approve his $5 billion plan for a border wall. Along with Trump’s threats this week, the fundraiser was in direct response to a GoFundMe vying to raise $1 billion to help the federal government build the wall. It had raised nearly $11 million as of Dec. 21.

The wall is projected to cost $25 billion in total, as the New York Times reports — though congressional Democrats claim the final tally would be much higher.

The “Ladders to Get Over Trump’s Wall” fundraiser makes it clear that the organizers don’t think its rival GoFundMe will be able to raise billions of dollars. Regardless, organizers want to ensure that the money raised is used to help “our undocumented friends.”

RAICES, the largest immigration legal services nonprofit in Texas, was added to the fundraiser so it can access the funds directly once it’s over. Ultimately, the money will actually be spent on legal assistance for immigrants.

“You see, they’ll never reach their goal, but no matter how much we raise, we’re going to reach ours: Supporting an organization working to help immigrants seeking legal asylum. This GoFundMe isn’t really about ladders at all. It’s about lifting people up,” the “Ladders to Get Over Trump’s Wall” page reads.

Clymer, who works for the Human Rights Campaign, told Newsweek she finds discussions about the wall “incredibly concerning.”

“The wall is wholly absurd, and the folks supporting it are doing so for the worst reasons,” she said. “We need to reject white supremacy in our country.”

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