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Maria Ramirez Uribe
By Maria Ramirez Uribe January 22, 2025

Trump directs Homeland Security and Defense departments to begin building more border wall

President Donald Trump has ordered the Homeland Security and Defense departments to begin building barriers along the U.S. southern border, a first step toward fulfilling his promise of finishing the border wall. 

On his first day in office, Trump declared a national emergency at the southern border, although immigration officials have encountered fewer immigrants trying to enter the U.S. over the past few months.

The declaration directs the secretaries of Homeland Security and Defense to "take all appropriate action … to construct additional physical barriers along the southern border."

During his first administration, Trump also declared a national emergency at the southern border, which allowed him to redirect Defense Department funding to build border barriers after Congress failed to appropriate enough money for the project. 

In his first four years, Trump built around 450 miles of border barriers along the southern U.S. border, many of which replaced old, dilapidated barriers. During his 2016 campaign, he promised to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. We rated it a Promise Broken.

Besides the financial constraints of building a border barrier, Trump could also run into land problems. Large portions of the U.S. southern border are on privately owned land, so barriers can't be placed there unless the federal government buys the land or seizes it through eminent domain. Additional parts of the border are on federally protected land, building there could prompt legal challenges from environment protection groups.

The national emergency declaration sets the building of more border barriers in motion. We rate the promise In the Works.

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