If you see black, head back.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that the entire southern border wall will be painted black, in an effort to make the structure too hot to scale when the sun is beating down on it.
The new paint job for the roughly 700 miles of border wall along the US-Mexico boundary, which the administration aims to dramatically expand, was ordered by President Trump himself to further deter illegal crossings, Noem revealed during a press conference in front of a section of the barrier in Santa Teresa, New Mexico.
“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. And today we are also going to be painting it black,” the DHS secretary said of the steel structure behind her.
“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 continued.
“So we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally,” she added.
The coat of black paint will also help prevent the steel structure from rusting, Noem said.
Additional technology, including cameras and sensors, will also be deployed to further thwart illegal border crossings, which have plunged to the lowest levels on record under Trump.
It’s unclear what the full cost of the paint job will be.
A total of $46.5 billion was earmarked for border wall construction in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the White House estimated would fund an additional 700 miles of wall along the 2,000-mile stretch of land and water that divides the US and Mexico.
“With the OBBB we will be able to finish the border wall system started under President Trump’s first term. Due to an active procurement process to finish the wall it would be irresponsible to the American taxpayer to release the numbers as it may impact future bids,” a DHS spokesperson said when asked about the pricetag.
During his first term, Trump reportedly preferred border wall prototypes that had bollards painted “flat black” to absorb heat and render them too hot to touch.
The president, at the time, also reportedly told a group of officials and engineers that the border wall should have sharp spikes at the top to appear more intimidating.
