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The Trump administration says construction of the southern border wall is moving faster and costing less than anticipated, with federal officials projecting completion of the primary barrier system by the end of 2027.
Speaking recently with the Center for Immigration Studies, Border Patrol Commissioner Rodney Scott outlined the administration’s plans for completing what he described as a comprehensive “smart wall” system stretching across much of the southern border.
Who is praying on the wall?
From Breitbart:
“We’ll have the entire system — to include a secondary barrier in places we need it, the water barrier in the Rio Grande River, and the [monitoring] technology that was paid for by OB3 [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] — done by July 2028,” he told Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
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We turned that back on on January 20. We kicked that back into place and started leveraging that money. And then the Big Beautiful Bill provided $46.5 billion to finish building out the smart border wall system.
It’s not just a wall… It is a barrier. There’s a 30-foot-high bollard wall that everybody’s familiar with. They see it. But I call it a smart wall because it’s infused with technology that allows our agents to be spread out farther. It cues them when anybody’s even close to it. It also includes some camera systems. The primary border wall will — I’ve made a commitment to the president — be done by the end of 2027. [Emphasis added]
Scott argued that funding approved during President Donald Trump’s first administration, combined with additional resources provided through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, has allowed construction efforts to accelerate after several years of delays. According to Scott, the administration’s goal is not simply to build more fencing, but to create an integrated security system that combines physical barriers with cameras, sensors, and other monitoring technology.
The commissioner emphasized that the administration does not intend to place a wall along every mile of the border. He pointed to remote areas such as Big Bend National Park, where natural terrain already creates significant barriers to illegal crossings. Instead, officials say resources are being directed toward areas where they believe physical barriers and technology can provide the greatest security benefit.
Scott also highlighted plans to expand water-based barriers along portions of the Rio Grande River. The buoy barrier system was tested near the end of Trump’s first term before being halted under the Biden administration. The new plan reportedly includes hundreds of miles of water barriers that Scott said could function as the equivalent of a physical wall in certain areas.
Much of Scott’s interview focused on contrasting the Trump administration’s border policies with those of former President Joe Biden. Scott, who served as Border Patrol chief during the early months of the Biden administration, argued that administration officials prioritized processing and releasing migrants rather than deterring illegal crossings. He claimed that border security experts repeatedly warned that reducing enforcement consequences would encourage larger migration flows from around the world.
Supporters of stricter immigration enforcement have long argued that policies such as catch-and-release create incentives for illegal immigration while benefiting human smuggling networks and drug cartels. Critics of the Biden administration contend that large numbers of migrants were released into the country, placing additional strain on housing, schools, healthcare systems, and labor markets. Defenders of the Biden administration, meanwhile, have argued that many migration pressures were driven by global instability, economic hardship, and humanitarian concerns beyond the control of any single administration.
Scott also warned that illegal immigration extends beyond the movement of migrants alone. He argued that cartels use large groups of migrants to distract law enforcement personnel while moving narcotics and other illicit goods through less-monitored areas of the border. According to Scott, border officials repeatedly presented evidence of these tactics to Biden administration officials but saw little change in policy.
The debate over border security remains one of the most significant issues facing the nation. As construction continues and new policies take effect, the administration argues that stronger enforcement, expanded barriers, and enhanced technology will help secure the border while reducing illegal crossings and criminal activity.
Pray for our leaders and our law enforcement as they work to protect our border in the comments below.
(Excerpt from Breitbart. Photo Credit: Greg Bulla on Unsplash)
