Trump's $46 Billion 'Smart Wall' Is Being Built Along the US-Mexico Border

The U.S. government is spending $46 billion to build a high-tech barrier along the border between the United States and Mexico. President Donald Trump's team calls it a 'smart wall' because it combines tall steel fencing with cameras, sensors, and towers. The goal is to make it harder for people to cross the border without permission. But not everyone agrees the plan is a good idea.

The wall includes steel fences that stand 30 feet tall — about as high as a three-story building. It also uses technology like underground cables, radar, and artificial intelligence to spot people trying to cross. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the agency in charge of the border, says all this technology helps agents do their jobs better. 'It's a smart wall. It's not just a barrier,' said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott.

Building the wall has been one of Trump's top goals since he first ran for president. Congress gave his administration $46 billion to get the job done. As of mid-June 2026, CBP had already put up 74 new miles of wall and is adding about 6 miles every week. The plan is to eventually cover hundreds more miles of the roughly 2,000-mile-long border.

Not every part of the border will have a steel fence. About 535 miles of the border run through land so rough and rocky that it naturally blocks people from crossing. In those areas, the government plans to use ground sensors and towers instead of a physical wall. Along rivers in Texas, large floating buoys shaped like cylinders are placed in the water to stop people from swimming across.

Technology is playing a bigger and bigger role in border security. Some towers can work on their own — they scan the land, use AI to decide if something looks suspicious, and send an alert to Border Patrol agents. Underground fiber-optic cables can also sense movement and send that data to be analyzed by AI. The government recently ordered 95 more of these autonomous, or self-operating, towers.

But many people who live near the border are worried. Ricky Garza, a border policy expert, said the technology pushes migrants into more dangerous paths to avoid being caught. He also said that ground sensors have been placed on people's private land without asking permission. A woman named Nayda Alvarez found cameras on her family's land near the Rio Grande in Texas and asked, 'Are we expecting a war or something?'

Privacy experts are raising concerns as well. Dave Maass of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said the border area has become 'a hostile environment' for both local people and migrants. His group published a guide to help border residents understand the different types of surveillance towers being used near their homes. Some towers can see up to 8 miles away using video, infrared, and radar technology.

There are also concerns about how much the wall costs and whether the money is being spent wisely. A watchdog group called Taxpayers for Common Sense wants the government to better track how the money is used. They point to a past example: in 2011, the Obama administration canceled a similar high-tech 'virtual wall' project after it went over budget and had too many problems. Critics worry the same thing could happen again.

In the Big Bend area of southern Texas, many people pushed back against plans to build a tall wall through parks and a wildlife area. CBP listened and changed its plans — instead of a 30-foot steel wall, the agency will now build patrol roads, some car-stopping barriers, and use detection technology. But some residents are still uneasy about what the changes will mean for their community. Clara Benson of the No Big Bend Wall group said bright border lights could block the area's famous views of the night sky.