SANTA TERESA, N.M. (NewsNation) – Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that the U.S.-Mexico border wall will be painted black at President Donald Trump’s specific request, saying the darker color will make the barrier even more difficult to climb in hot weather.
“There will be more added to it as far as technology, cameras, sensors — we’re also going to be painting it black,” Noem said. “That is specifically at the request of the president. When something is painted black, it gets even warmer, making it even harder for people to climb.”
Noem said the black paint serves dual purposes: protecting the steel structure from rust and making it hot to touch during the region’s high temperatures.
The painting project marks a return to Trump’s original border wall prototype design. During his first presidency, officials began painting sections black in Calexico, California, before abandoning the practice to speed construction.
Sources say the administration is reviving the black paint plan as border crossings have slowed significantly.
A total of $46.5 billion is allocated in Trump’s funding bill to complete construction of the border wall.
Noem said the U.S. now has “the most secure border that we’ve ever had in the history of this nation,” citing zero illegal border crossings recorded for May, June and July.
Border Patrol agents in the El Paso sector are now apprehending an average of 41 people per day, down from peaks of 2,300 daily apprehensions in 2023, according to interim Chief Patrol Agent Walter Slosar.
The majority of those apprehended are single adults from Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador, officials said.
Trump posted on Truth Social, congratulating Texas on “the LOWEST RECORDED NUMBERS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY” for July border statistics.
In the Lone Star State, U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-Texas, told NewsNation that the wall is needed to help secure the border.
NewsNation had also reported exclusively that five new high-tech surveillance towers that will help U.S. Border Patrol agents monitor migrant gotaways in the Del Rio Sector are being installed as part of a continued effort to conduct immigration enforcement.
NewsNation’s Ali Bradley contributed to this report.
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