Nearly 78 Miles of Border Barriers Built Since Trump Took Office: Noem

The construction includes steel fencing.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Washington on May 6, 2025. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

The second Trump administration has constructed nearly 78 miles of border barriers, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said on May 6.

Since President Donald Trump was sworn in on Jan. 20, the administration has erected 77.8 miles of fencing, Noem told lawmakers on the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington.

That includes steel bollard fencing in some areas, temporary fencing in others, and water buoys in still others.

Contracts for an additional 40 miles of barrier have already been awarded.

Steel is appropriate in certain border areas, but others may require buoys because of bodies of water such as the Rio Grande, Noem told the panel. In other areas, concertina wire is being put up. And officials are also installing more cameras to keep watch over areas where fencing may be impractical.

“We’re going to continue to move forward with putting up that infrastructure because it does slow down traffic, it sends a message, and it gives our ... officers more opportunities to truly address the security concerns that we’ve had in the past,” she said.

The southwest border, dividing Mexico and the United States, runs about 1,954 miles.

About 452 miles of border barriers were completed in Trump’s first term, which ran from 2017 to 2021, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

Construction to erect a new barrier or replace a fence is about $6.5 million per mile, according to Customs and Border Protection.

The Trump administration has asked Congress for $47 billion to fund more construction, and the House Homeland Security Committee recently advanced a measure containing the funding.

That and other money “would enable DHS to fully implement the President’s mass removal campaign, finish construction of the border wall on the Southwest border, procure advanced border security technology, modernize the fleet and facilities of the Coast Guard, and enhance Secret Service protective operations,” the White House said in its fiscal year 2026 budget request.

The funding would go toward completing 701 miles of border wall, 900 miles of river barriers, 629 miles of secondary barriers, and replacing 141 miles of vehicular and pedestrian barriers, according to the Homeland Security Committee.

“Homeland Republicans look forward to working with our colleagues in the House and Senate to pass this essential funding that will help frontline law enforcement carry out President Trump’s border security agenda and help ensure the catastrophe of the last four years never happens again,” Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the panel, said in a statement.

Some Democrats have said barriers aren’t effective and that funding should go toward other areas.

“Republicans want to throw billions at a border wall that doesn’t secure our border,” Rep. Julie Johnson (D-Texas) said in a recent social media post. “It’s a waste of money and a distraction from real solutions.”