Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that the department will paint the southern border wall black to deter anyone from climbing over.
Noem said during a press conference in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, on Tuesday that the project, which builds on a proposal advanced by President Donald Trump, is intended to strengthen deterrence along one of the most heavily trafficked migration corridors in the world.
Officials said the dark paint is meant to absorb the desert heat, raising surface temperatures and creating an added physical barrier to illegal crossings.
“Now, if you look at the structure that’s behind me, it’s tall, which makes it very, very difficult to climb, almost impossible. It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under,” said Noem, according to The Hill.
“And today, we are also going to be painting it black. That is specifically at the request of the President, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer, and it will make it even harder for people to climb.”
Noem later addressed how the passing of the “Big Beautiful Bill” will allow for these changes to take place, saying that it set aside “an incredible amount of resources” to help secure the border, as reported by Fox News.
Specifics about the costs of additional paint are not currently available, though funding of this project should not be a concern after the “Big Beautiful Bill” provided approximately $46.5 billion for the wall, per CNN.
Current construction on the wall is advancing at a rate of roughly half a mile per day, noting that there will be differences in the different sections of the wall as building continues.
“The border wall will look very different based on the topography and the geography of where it is built,” she added, according to the Associated Press.
These changes to the wall come as the Trump administration continues to place an emphasis on stopping the smuggling of both humans and drugs across the southern border.
This focus has resulted in many notable busts coming out of the Texas-Mexico border, including a singular bust of nearly $8 million in methamphetamines and the seizure of over 280 pounds of narcotics in a single week, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.