--- title: What's the Status of Trump's Border Wall? description: Where a key campaign promise stands, more than a decade on canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/08/06/trump-border-wall-immigration/ author: Connor Greene article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-08-06T15:37:15.417Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-06T15:37:19.396Z article:section: Politics og:title: What's the Status of Trump's Border Wall? og:description: Where a key campaign promise stands, more than a decade on og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/08/06/trump-border-wall-immigration/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43b4b6e70a0899e9/6a73bacd2067052b203fc8c3/GettyImages-1222261569.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: GettyImages-1222261569.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What's the Status of Trump's Border Wall? twitter:description: Where a key campaign promise stands, more than a decade on twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt43b4b6e70a0899e9/6a73bacd2067052b203fc8c3/GettyImages-1222261569.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What's the Status of Trump's Border Wall? A Key Campaign Promise, Over a Decade On by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Aug 6, 2026 3:37 PM UTC  President Donald Trump participates in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Arizona, on June 23, 2020. President Donald Trump participates in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Arizona, on June 23, 2020.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Connor Greene](https://time.com/author/connor-greene/) ## Connor Greene Editorial Fellow Aug 6, 2026 3:37 PM UTC More than a decade after President [Donald Trump](https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/donald-trump/) pledged to build a [wall](https://time.com/4652770/donald-trump-immigration-walls-history/) along the U.S.-Mexico border in what became a defining rallying cry of his 2016 [presidential campaign](https://time.com/4591183/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump-interview/), the project is still ongoing, with many miles of work ahead. In the final months of Trump’s first term, his Administration [touted](https://time.com/5928808/trump-border-wall-what-to-know/) the completion of more than 450 miles of the promised border wall, a symbol of the President’s hardline approach to [immigration](https://time.com/7291757/trump-deportation-ice-el-salvador/). Customs and Border Protection (CBP) [tracking](https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/smart-wall-map) shows that dozens more miles have been completed since Trump’s return to office last January, with work underway on hundreds of others. The project received a hefty new injection of funds under the sweeping tax and spending law Trump signed into law last year, the [One Big Beautiful Bill](https://time.com/7300177/trump-signs-big-beautiful-bill/), which appropriated $46.5 billion to continue building the wall. That funding, which will remain available through September 30, 2029, goes toward all kinds of security measures associated with border security, including a two-tiered wall system, water barriers, and an abundance of detection technologies. Administration officials have recently said that work on the primary portion of the wall is set to be finished as soon as next year. But as of today, the new portions of the wall that have been constructed under Trump’s two Administrations still account for only a fraction of the total planned barrier system, and hundreds of miles of the structure remain unfinished. The project is also facing continuing roadblocks in the courts and the environmental approval process. “President Trump kept his promise to the American people to secure the Southern Border and delivered fifteen straight months of zero releases into the United States,” White House spokesperson Lauren Bis says in a statement to TIME. “The world has heard the President’s message that our borders are closed to lawbreakers. We are committed to finishing building the wall so our border stays secure for years to come.” Here’s what to know about the status of the wall, the hurdles in its construction process, and when the Administration is planning for it to be finished. ## How much of the border wall has been built? About 700 miles of a “primary” border wall have so far been built along the U.S.-Mexico border, which stretches for nearly 2,000 miles in total, according to tracking from [CBP](https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/smart-wall-map). These portions of wall, made up of steel bollards up to 30 feet tall, are the first line of the barrier system that would be encountered by those travelling north from Mexico. Stretches of similarly constructed “secondary wall” run parallel to the border's primary wall in places inside of the U.S. An “enforcement zone” exists between the primary and secondary walls, where patrol roads and surveillance systems allow immigration officials to monitor and detain people who have crossed into the U.S. Border fortifications also include a “waterborne barrier system” that [features](https://www.cbp.gov/sites/default/files/2025-11/waterborne%5Fbarrier%5Fconstruction%5Fin%5Fmaverick%5Fcounty%5Frequest%5Ffor%5Finput%5Foctober2025.pdf) “a string of 4- to 5-foot diameter continuous buoys,” according to CBP, as well as boat ramps, bridges, and patrol roads running along rivers. Most of the U.S.-Mexico border is made up of rivers: the Rio Grande accounts for roughly two-thirds, while a much smaller portion runs along the Colorado River. “It’s a smart wall. It’s not just a barrier,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said during Congressional testimony in February, referencing the various types of structures and precautionary measures that make up the border fortifications. At the time of Trump’s return to the White House in January 2025, roughly 644 miles of primary wall and 75 miles of secondary wall were in place at the border, per CBP. About 458 miles of wall were installed during Trump’s first Administration, according to a 2023 [report](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-23-105443.pdf) from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The report noted, though, that 371 of those miles, or 81%, replaced pre-existing barriers, while only 87 miles of wall were constructed where no barriers previously existed. Since Trump took office for the second time, 59 new miles of primary wall and 42 miles of secondary wall have been built, according to [CBP](https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/smart-wall-map). An additional 38 miles of primary wall has been replaced during that time. The agency’s tracking also shows that as of Wednesday, 287 new miles of primary wall are under construction and contracts have been awarded on another 280 miles. A CBP official tells TIME that of the appropriated budget, $33.6 billion has been awarded in contracts for construction of the border wall. A White House official adds to TIME that CBP plans to build roughly 667 additional miles of primary wall and 461 miles of secondary wall, noting that approximately 363 miles of the southern border will “be covered by detection technology, comprising a mixture of sensors and various towers, leveraging areas with natural barriers provided by the terrain.” In Trump’s second term, 42 miles of secondary wall have also been constructed, with 384 more miles currently under construction. An additional 22 miles of the waterborne barrier system has been constructed since Trump’s return to office. ## Challenges in construction Trump’s Administrations have faced several hurdles in constructing the border wall. One aspect of the construction that has posed significant challenges has been the need to acquire land that is already owned. Approximately [70%](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-114.pdf) of the border is made up of private, tribal, or state-owned land, according to the GAO. And the federal government has faced pushback from all three fronts. Among multiple challenges that have been made in response to the government’s attempts to acquire land, the Texas General Land Office in July sent CBP and an agency contractor a cease-and-desist letter after it said it discovered that the contractor had cleared over a mile of state land for construction, using heavy machinery and destroying vegetation. “Texas sovereignty will not be infringed upon by failure to follow established protocol,” said Commissioner Dawn Buckingham in a [statement](https://www.glo.texas.gov/about-glo/press-releases/dont-tread-texas-commissioner-buckingham-orders-federal-contractors-cease). “I am committed to maintaining a positive relationship with CBP, but we will not allow rogue actors who breached our agreement to undermine the incredible work we do for Texas.” In a case of a tribal-land dispute, meanwhile, the Tohono O’odham Nation is [challenging](https://time.com/7300177/trump-signs-big-beautiful-bill/) a 62-mile wall project that it argues would infringe on the sovereignty of its Arizona reservation. When it comes to privately owned properties, the Administration is pursuing hundreds of acquisitions or permissions along the border, many of which are concentrated in the Big Bend region of Texas. If such land owners do not accept federal payments for their land to be used, the government retains the legal power to seize private property for public use through eminent domain. “We offer to buy. Once we offer to buy, if they don't want \[us\] to buy, we can take legal remedies in order to acquire the land,” a CBP official tells TIME. Between January 2017 and August 2020, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed 109 eminent domain declarations in its quest to acquire land to construct border barriers, according to a 2020 GAO [report](https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-21-114.pdf). The DOJ did not respond to TIME’s request for comment regarding the number of such cases that have been filed under Trump’s second Administration. Another challenge that the federal government has run into in the construction process relates to environmental approvals. CBP this month ordered contractors to stop drilling wells in New Mexico after ranchers said that pumping the groundwater needed to produce concrete for the wall threatened their livestock. The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer, which oversees approvals for wells across the state, found that eight wells were drilled without its permission along the U.S.-Mexico border, and noted there could be more, according to [The Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/border-wall-wells-water-ranch-new-mexico-5ad8fcbcbef112381a6cc56ba3566002). “Water is required for road construction, concrete production, and dust suppression associated with border wall construction,” CBP says in a statement to TIME regarding the alleged drilling of unauthorized wells. The agency points out that it is working to “develop a broader groundwater management strategy” in New Mexico. It also says it is “committed to working collaboratively with local landowners to ensure that construction activities do not adversely impact their water needs.” A series of [environmental](https://www.texastribune.org/2026/04/16/texas-border-wall-lawsuit-big-bend/) [lawsuits](https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/lawsuit-challenges-trump-administrations-new-arizona-border-wall-waivers-2025-07-09/) have also been levied against the Administration alleging that it has skirted environmental regulations to construct its border wall. ## When is the Administration aiming to finish the wall? Administration officials have stated that the full primary wall is set to be completed by next year, though they have varied somewhat on the precise timing. Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullin [said](https://homeland.house.gov/2026/07/02/one-year-later-how-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-helped-secure-america/) in June that: “On the border wall … we are on track to have the primary wall done, completed from the Pacific to Gulf of America at this time next year.” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said at a public event the same month that the "primary border wall, I've made a commitment to the President, will be done by the end of 2027." To that end, the agency has [announced](https://www.cbp.gov/about/history/cbps-historic-first-year-under-current-administration) that it expects to have completed 250 miles of “new barrier” under the second Trump Administration by September 30 this year. The White House official tells TIME that CBP is currently constructing around 7 miles of barrier per week on average, but that rate is expected to increase “significantly” with the addition of more projects. Scott also [said](https://cis.org/Transcript/Immigration-Newsmaker-Transcript-Conversation-CBP-Commissioner-Rodney-Scott) that the secondary wall system will be completed by July 2028. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/06/trump-border-wall-immigration/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/article/2026/08/06/trump-border-wall-immigration/"},"headline":"What's the Status of Trump's Border Wall? 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