Donald Trump has completed 250 miles of new wall construction since returning to the White House in the United States. An additional 1,443 miles of barriers are currently under construction along the nearly 2,000-mile US-Mexico border.
The Trump administration received $46.5bn in new funding from the "One Big Beautiful" spending bill to support these efforts. Before Trump returned to the White House, 644 miles of "primary wall" and 75 miles of "secondary" wall already existed.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, "President Trump promised the American people a secure border, and the data proves he delivered." Mullin added, "The results could not be clearer: strong enforcement works."
The administration has deployed troops to the border, ended "catch and release" of detainees, and froze asylum applications. Nearly 50,000 arrests were recorded in July 2026, with detentions of immigrants with criminal histories reaching 27 percent during that month.
By mid-July 2026, Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed an average of 1,255 people per day. Trump suspended refugee admissions almost immediately after returning to the White House, though an executive order in February re-opened admissions for Afrikaners from South Africa.
The refugee admission cap for the 2026 fiscal year was raised to 17,500 in May 2026. A total of 16,292 refugees were admitted to the US in the 2026 fiscal year, of which 16,287 were from South Africa.
Reichlin-Melnick stated that the reduction in migrant crossings is due to Trump's policies and messaging rather than the wall. Trump said, "I'm the King of the Wall."
Trump also said, "By the way, Mexico did pay for that wall. I charged them tariffs and I charged them costs like they've never paid in history." The Supreme Court upheld the decision to end temporary protected status for some 350,000 Haitians in June.
