The U.S. government has awarded 10 construction contracts worth $4.5 billion to companies tasked with building an additional 230 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border, with the majority of them being awarded last month, according to a new report.
The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that the funding will go toward more than 200 miles of what officials call the "Smart Wall." According to the federal government, these type of barriers include primary and secondary steel bollard fencing, waterborne barriers, patrol roads and advanced surveillance technology.
"For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. This president changed that," CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement. "The Smart Wall means more miles of barriers, more technology, and more capability for our agents on the ground. This is how you take control of the border."
According to DHS, the new contracts are the first funded through President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill." The agency also confirmed that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem issued two waivers to expedite construction: one covering about nine miles in CBP's San Diego Sector, and another for roughly 30 miles in New Mexico's El Paso Sector.
While DHS said the waivers were intended to "cut through bureaucratic red tape," it did not clarify why they were necessary. Under Section 102 of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, the agency is allowed to waive certain federal laws, including environmental and land-use protections, to accelerate border barrier construction.
Critics argue the new barriers can endanger migrants and wildlife. "Border walls just simply don't work," said Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee to NBC San Diego last month, after Noem issued the waiver. "They're not a useful way of deterring migration. They just complicate the crossing and add to how people are affected, harmed, and die as a result of border walls. And it's not a solution."
This has become a common practice in the Trump administration to accelerate border construction. In September, CBP announced that the administration had waived 31 environmental and public health laws to speed construction in Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge. The Center for Biological Diversity warned that the waivers would allow barriers to cut through endangered species habitat, including land critical to ocelots and migratory birds.
Seven of the 10 contracts were awarded to BCCCG Joint Venture, a Montgomery, Alabama-based company, which received more than $3.1 billion to construct various Smart Wall projects, including up to 80 miles of "waterborne barrier" to be installed in the Rio Grande in South Texas, according to Reuters.
As noted by Border Report, it remains unclear whether these waterborne barriers will include floating buoys, similar to the ones installed near Eagle Pass in 2023 as part of Gov. Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star. DHS has not confirmed if buoys are part of the new plan.
The U.S.-Mexico border spans 1,954 miles across deserts, rivers, mountains and other challenging terrain. According to DHS's Smart Wall website, 272 miles of new barriers have been awarded and are currently in the design phase, while just 44 miles are under active construction despite the billions of dollars allocated to the U.S.-Mexico border so far this year.
The remaining three contracts awarded this year, totaling more than $1.3 billion, are designated for barrier construction in New Mexico, Arizona and California.
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