The Trump administration has approved $4.5 billion in contracts to expand the “smart wall” along the U.S.–Mexico border.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on October 10 that the administration had approved nearly $4.5 billion for hundreds of miles of “smart wall” along the southern border.

“The smart wall means more miles of barriers, more technology, and more capability for our agents on the ground,” said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott in a press release. “For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. President Trump changed that.”

The agencies awarded 10 contracts in late September, adding nearly 400 miles of new security technology and 230 miles of “smart wall,” according to the release. The new wall segments will reinforce areas where the Biden administration had previously canceled contracts, adding lights, cameras, advanced detection systems, steel and waterborne barriers, and patrol roads to curb illegal crossings.

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These contracts are the first funded through President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which allocated $13.5 billion for border security efforts in Texas and other states. Some of the funds come from FY 2021 appropriations that the Biden administration had previously frozen.

The initial 10 contracts include the following:

  • El Paso 1 Project – $155.1 million to BCCG A Joint Venture, to replace nearly seven miles of old barrier in the Santa Teresa Area of Responsibility, west of El Paso, with new smart wall and nearly 22 miles of system attributes in New Mexico’s El Paso sector. 
  • El Paso 2 Project – $578.9 million to Barnard Spencer Joint Venture, for nearly 23 miles of new smart wall and nearly 81 miles of system attributes in New Mexico’s El Paso sector.
  • El Paso 3 Project – $850.36 million to BCCG A Joint Venture, for nearly 42 miles of new smart wall, 6 miles of new secondary border wall, and nearly 46 miles of system attributes in Texas’ El Paso sector.
  • Del Rio 1 Project – $565.05 million to BCCG A Joint Venture, for nearly 22 miles of new smart wall – replacing nearly two miles of old barrier –  and nearly 40 miles of waterborne barriers in Texas’ Eagle Pass Area of Responsibility, Del Rio Sector.
  • Del Rio 2 Project – $364.33 million to BCCG A Joint Venture, for nearly 10 miles of new smart wall, nearly 23 miles of waterborne barrier, and nearly 10 miles of system attributes in Texas’ Eagle Pass Area of Responsibility, Del Rio Sector.
  • Rio Grande Valley Waterborne Barrier Project – $96.15 million to BCCG A Joint Venture, nearly 17 miles of waterborne barrier in the Rio Grande River, in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley Sector – south of Brownsville, in Cameron County.
  • Yuma 1 Project – $199.5 million to Barnard Spencer Joint Venture, for nearly 60 miles of system attributes in the Yuma Sector of Arizona and California.
  • Tucson 1 Project – $606.99 million to BCCG A Joint Venture, for nearly 23 miles of new “secondary border wall” and nearly 66 miles of system attributes in Arizona’s Tucson and Yuma sectors. 
  • El Centro 1 Project – $574 million to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., for nearly eight miles of new smart wall and nearly 63 miles of system attributes in California’s El Centro and San Diego sectors.
  • San Diego 1 Project – $483.5 million to BCCG A Joint Venture, for nearly nine miles of new smart wall and nearly 52 miles of “system attributes” in the San Diego sector.

Together, the 10 projects span four border states, with roughly half of the work taking place in Texas sectors.

DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also issued two new construction waivers to “cut through bureaucratic red tape,” allowing work to proceed on nine miles of smart wall in the San Diego sector and 30 miles in New Mexico’s El Paso sector, according to the release.

While most of Texas’ southern border now features some form of wall or detection technology, many of the existing structures are concentrated in South Texas, according to DHS data. Large gaps remain in West Texas, where only basic detection systems or planned projects are in place.

When the Texas Legislature approved the state’s record $337 billion budget in April, lawmakers omitted funding for state border wall construction, as The Dallas Express previously reported. Texas had filled federal security gaps during the Biden administration, but lawmakers now expect the Trump administration to resume full federal leadership on border defense.