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United States·Mexico·North America·Migration

Trump administration builds 'smart wall' along US–Mexico border with sensors and steel barriers

Friday, 17 April 2026, 20:04 · 1 min read

The United States government is expanding and upgrading its border wall with Mexico, rebranding the effort as a "smart wall" that combines taller physical barriers with high-tech surveillance. Funded by a $46.5 billion infrastructure package included in the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill (a sweeping fiscal legislation signed under the Trump administration), the project involves erecting new steel bollard walls nearly ten metres high — roughly double the height of earlier structures — as well as installing infrared cameras, motion sensors, and improved lighting monitored by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP). However, in environmentally sensitive stretches such as national park land along the Texas–Coahuila border, a technology-only zone will replace physical barriers following pressure from conservationists and local communities, while construction on the western coast has drawn criticism after explosives used near San Diego reportedly damaged a 35-metre sacred monolith on Cuchumá hill, a site held sacred by the Kumiai indigenous people.

Sources
El PaísParedes de refuerzo y zonas con tecnología de detección: el “muro inteligente” que Estados Unidos está construyendo en la frontera ↗︎
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