The clock is ticking on Trump's border wall
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Photo illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios. Photos: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP, Eric Thayer/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The closer you look at Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin's declaration that the border wall will be finished by this time next year, the harder it is to make the numbers work.
Why it matters: DHS has only completed 10% of its planned primary wall. It will have to navigate construction lawsuits, negotiate with (or sue) private citizens for land access and finalize contracts and designs — all while minimizing the delays that slow big construction projects.
- There are about 698 miles of primary border wall left to build, according to a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, along with public agency data that tracks wall construction from CBP and the Department of War.
The big picture: The pace would need to increase to more than 13 miles a week to finish on Mullin's self-declared timeline.
- The primary wall construction rate for most of 2026 has been roughly 2.6 miles per week.
- The fastest reported increase in completed primary border wall was an additional 4 miles built between June 5 and June 10. If CBP kept this pace for the next year, it could build about 292 miles of wall.
- DHS is counting on construction to speed up now that the majority of contracts have been awarded, mostly to two construction companies, and projects are advancing past the design stage.
Between the lines: Just 30 miles of President Trump's border wall, including secondary wall and water barriers, were built in his first year in office.
What they're saying: "We're on track to have the primary border wall done, completed from the Pacific to the Gulf of America this time next year," Mullin testified to Congress in June and recently repeated at a press conference.
- "We're ahead of schedule and we're below budget on building border wall," CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said at a recent public event. "Primary border wall, I've made a commitment to the president, will be done by the end of 2027."
- "CBP continues to develop and finalize its plan for border barrier construction funded by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, with a focus on the top operational priorities with historical rates of high illegal entry where illegal aliens regularly attempt to enter the United States," a CBP spokesperson said in an emailed statement when asked about construction pace.
Friction point: Like former Secretary Kristi Noem, Mullin has waived environmental reviews that would typically be needed in the area to speed up building.
- After fierce local pushback, CBP has compromised on removing hundreds of miles of physical wall from the difficult terrain in and near the Big Bend state and national parks — which also decreased the total miles to build.
- For private landowners resisting giving up their property, DHS has filed two eminent domain lawsuits to seize land, according to the CBP spokesperson.
- The spokesperson said "if CBP is unable to acquire the necessary access voluntarily within a reasonable timeframe, CBP refers the matter to the Department of Justice to acquire any necessary property interest(s) through eminent domain." There were multiple such cases filed in Trump's first term.
Zoom out: Mullin says there are still ways to illegally cross the border, adding to the urgency to build the wall.
- "I'm sure there are some gotaways because we're still building the wall to secure the border, but that number is extremely small," Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at a press conference last week.
- "But we aren't able to see [them]. That's why we're building the wall. That's why President Trump made it a priority to get the wall built from the Pacific to the Gulf of America."
