Why the US is painting the border wall with Mexico black

The Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, paints a part of the wall that separates the United States from Mexico — Photo foot, The Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem, spoke about the journalists from the border.

- Author, Bernd Debusmann Jr*
- Author's title, BBC News
20 August 2025, 18:06 GMT

Updated 23 minutes

The wall that separates the United States and Mexico is being painted black so that it is hotter and difficult to climb, as announced by the Secretary of National Security, Kristi Noem.

Speaking to journalists from a section of the border in the state of New Mexico, Noem said Tuesday that black painting was “an express request of the president.”

“(He) understands that, with the high temperatures here, when something black is painted, it heats up even more. That will make it more difficult for people to climb it,” he added.

In his X account, Noem added: “This wall is part of the change. Too high to climb it. Too narrow to cross it. And now, so hot to the touch that illegal foreign criminals will not even try.”

Border patrol agents claim that black paint will also help prevent the wall from oxidizing.

In addition to the arrests and deportations that star in the government's immigration policy, a bill proposed by Trump and approved earlier this summer boreal allocated US $ 46 million to the extension of the wall along the border.

According to Noem, around 0.8 km of wall is built every day along the almost 3,218 km of border.

“It is both a shield and a symbol: a monument to the unwavering commitment of President Trump with this country and with the security of the US people,” Noem wrote in X.

A huge fence separates two territories — Photo foot, During his first period, President Trump built tens of kilometers of wall, and has continued to extend.

Trump's measures against immigration

The number of irregular crosses on the border has been drastically reduced in recent months, and the Trump administration states that mass arrests are functioning as a deterrent element of irregular immigration.

Noem added that the government plans to install more “aquatic infrastructure” throughout the Río Grande (Rio Bravo in Mexico), which constitutes more than half of the border between the two countries.

Although Noem did not give more details about these projects, the Texas authorities have already installed large orange buoys with fortified spikes and fences on the banks that are monitored by the State Police, the Local Police and the Texas National Guard along some sections of the river.

The number of migrants who irregularly cross the border and are immediately detained has been drastically reduced since Trump returned to the presidency, with historical minimums of approximately 4,600 in July and 6,000 in June, which represents a 92% reduction compared to the previous year.

During the Biden government, the arrests reached an average of 6,000 a day in some periods.

Orange buoys chain with spikes on the brave river — Photo foot, These spikes were installed by the state of Texas in the Rio Grande to avoid the passage of migrants from Mexico.

At the beginning of August, Noem said that a total of 1.6 million undocumented immigrants left the United States during the first 200 days of the Detch government, although it did not specify how many were deported and how many left on their own.

The White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in early August that a total of 300,000 undocumented immigrants were arrested in the country since January.

The Government continues to defend that their priority is people with a criminal record, but immigrants defenders have denounced that many people without criminal charges or with minor infractions have ended up detained in the raids.

The White House argues that the increase in border security and mass deportations have had a deterrent effect, and states that they are the main reason for the decrease in figures on the border between the United States and Mexico.

*With additional reports by Santiago Vanegas