The United States expects to complete President Donald Trump's long-promised southern border wall by late 2027, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott said Tuesday.
The barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border is made of reinforced metal beams and is intended to run from San Diego to the Gulf of Mexico, except in selected areas where officials have decided it is not necessary, Scott said at the Center for Immigration Studies event in Washington.
"The primary border wall will be done by the end of 2027," he said.
Scott acknowledged that there are gaps in the wall. "The only places we're not building a border wall is places where we've made a conscious decision that we don't need it. Big Bend National Park, for example — super remote area, some very, very high cliffs," he said.
The wall will be supplemented by electronic surveillance and other devices, which would be installed by about July or August 2028, Scott said.
Building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico was a key campaign promise by Donald Trump when he ran for president in 2016. Trump also repeatedly vowed that Mexico would pay for the multibillion-dollar project, something that has not happened.
The long stretch of the Rio Grande along the border of Texas, which runs more than 1,200 miles (1,900 km) between the two countries, will have its own physical barriers. "We'll have the entire system to include a secondary barrier in places we need it — the water barrier and the Rio Grande River — and the technology," Scott said.
The wall is intended to curb illegal immigration and narcotics trafficking from Mexico, which have declined according to official indicators. However, the physical barrier alone will not be enough to curb clandestine activities, Scott said. Tunnels, drones, and other workarounds are already being used to spot patrols and move drugs.
"We'd see the drones flying along the Rio Grande River watching and videotaping where all our guys are. That is their business model, and drones definitely make it easier," Scott said. "They're also smuggling narcotics across with drones."
The announcement comes amid ongoing debates over immigration policy and border security in the United States.
