The Department of Homeland Security on Friday revealed its ambitious Smart Wall plans for the U.S.-Mexico border, with fences stretching 1,422 miles along the boundary, more than double the current length, with sensor technology to protect the remaining area too rugged for a wall. Here’s what you need to know about the expanded border wall plans and massive construction effort:
The Smart Wall plan
DHS reveals comprehensive border barrier strategy:
- Department of Homeland Security on Friday revealed its ambitious Smart Wall plans for U.S.-Mexico border
- Fences stretching 1,422 miles along boundary, more than double current length
- Sensor technology to protect remaining area too rugged for wall
- Barriers will begin at Pacific Ocean in San Diego, run largely uninterrupted until they reach western edge of Big Bend area of Texas
- Then pick up northwest of Laredo and run to Gulf of America near Brownsville
- CBP revealed rebrand from old name, wall system to Smart Wall
Construction contracts and funding
$4.5 billion in new contracts issued:
- Customs and Border Protection, agency that oversees boundary, said it has just issued $4.5 billion in new contracts to get construction started
- Money is first installment from tens of billions of dollars allocated in President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill budget law
- Will pay for 230 miles of new fencing and 400 miles of new roads and technology
- “For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. This president changed that,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said
- “The Smart Wall means more miles of barriers, more technology and more capability for our agents on the ground. This is how you take control of the border”
Environmental waivers
Secretary speeds construction with law exemptions:
- To speed construction, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued waivers of environmental laws for sections of wall to go up in Southern California and New Mexico
Trump’s wall legacy
Marquee 2016 campaign promise sees major expansion:
- Wall was marquee promise from Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign and one he made significant headway on in his first term, completing 458 miles of fence construction
- His 2020 election defeat turned things over to President Biden, who shut down construction
- That erased several hundred miles of wall already planned, and left hundreds more miles where Mr. Trump had built fencing but didn’t finish roads and technology that were planned
- With his reelection last year, Mr. Trump vowed to finish the job
Current vs. planned coverage
Border wall expansion from 36% to 73%:
- As of Jan. 20, just 702 miles of 1,954-mile-long border with Mexico had some form of fencing or barrier — about 36%
- By time Mr. Trump is done, that will be 1,422 miles, or nearly 73%
- Remaining 532 miles — largely matching Big Bend area of western Texas — is too rugged or remote to need wall and will instead be covered by detection technology, CBP said
Historical wall debates
New plans answer longstanding questions:
- New plans give final answers to questions that have dogged Mr. Trump since he first suggested “big, beautiful wall” in 2016 campaign
- At that time, he said wall wouldn’t need to run from sea to sea, but he vacillated on exact length and what it would look like
- His campaign speeches referred to concrete structure, and his vow that Mexico would pay for it was favorite applause line for his raucous crowds
- Early in 2017, he held wall-building competition and personally visited site to look at options
- Congress stepped in and, while giving him some money, ordered him to use steel slat design that remains standard
Shutdown and emergency funding
Past funding battles shaped wall construction:
- In late 2018, impasse with Congress over his demand for increase in wall funding led to longest government shutdown on record
- Mr. Trump relented after 35 days, accepting lower dollar figure from Congress but turning around and declaring emergency, siphoning billions of dollars from existing Pentagon accounts instead
- By time he left office in 2021, Congress had given him $4.5 billion, and he had cobbled together additional $10.5 billion from Defense Department and Treasury forfeiture fund
- Was enough to pay for 738 miles of wall construction, but just 458 miles of barrier were erected when Mr. Biden took over
Incomplete wall system
Previous construction prioritized fencing over full system:
- Because Mr. Trump prioritized fencing to meet self-imposed Election Day 2020 deadline, most of those miles lacked roads, lights and sensor technology to complete wall system
- Government Accountability Office in 2021 reported that just 69 of new miles had all of components Border Patrol had planned
- “While the wall panels are typically the most costly part of border barrier construction, the full wall system remains incomplete,” GAO said at time
- Biden administration had money in place to complete plans, but Mr. Biden’s vow not to build “another foot” of wall shut down work, leaving literal gaps in wall and hundreds of miles without roads and technology
Technology backfill plans
CBP addressing previous gaps:
- CBP on Friday said its new plans call for backfilling technology along 550 miles of previously constructed fencing
Read more:
• DHS reveals grand plan for border: 1,422 miles of wall along Mexico boundary
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