The breathtaking speed of the Trump administration has made it difficult to keep up with all the winning during this second term. Just the peace deals and tariff agreements are tough to keep up with. President Donald Trump has already stopped three wars and is getting closer to a fourth.
With all that good news many have forgotten about the southern border because it’s been effectively sealed. We thought it would be worth checking in to see what’s happening with the Big Beautiful Wall.
American voters have been asking for a wall on our southern border since the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Those calls intensified when Pancho Villa’s troops attacked the town of Columbus, New Mexico, in 1910. Villa’s forces killed 10 civilians in the attack, including a woman who was eight months pregnant. The US Army rolled into town, killed 75 Mexican attackers, and wounded hundreds more to repel the invasion.
So, for well over a century, we’ve wanted a wall. The government has mostly ignored us all this time. Here’s a Norm McDonald SNL joke about the paltry efforts to secure the border 30 years ago:
Last week, in Arizona, Marine Corps Engineers extended a steel barrier between the United States and Mexico by two and a half miles.
It's all part of a plan to make… uh… illegal aliens walk an extra two and a half miles. pic.twitter.com/Jp3O4MlYhm
— Norm Macdonald Joke of the Day (@NormSNLJokes) July 2, 2025
The first Trump administration caught a lot of flak from some quarters because many of the “new” miles that they were claiming to build were actually repairs of already-existing sections of wall. That’s not happening in 2025.
So far, more than 80 miles of new border wall have been constructed at the federal level. This includes sectors in San Diego, Yuma, Tucson, El Paso, and the Rio Grande Valley.
The Department of Homeland Security has issued waivers to fast-track new sections of the wall in Arizona and New Mexico. These are environmental waivers, to keep groups like the Sierra Club from throwing a wrench in the works by complaining about snail darters being hurt by the wall. (Funny how these groups never mention Americans being hurt by the lack of a wall.)
The federal government has also issued $380 million in new contracts this year, for companies to construct more impenetrable wall sections in Arizona and Texas.
That’s the federal side of things. The state of Texas is going like gangbusters. They’ve built 66 miles of new wall in 2025. The state doesn’t squander taxpayer money on benefits for illegals, so they’re able to do their part in border security for all of America.
Texas has ongoing wall construction that’s active in six counties as of July 1. They’re negotiating easements with landowners and plan to top 100 miles of completely new wall construction by 2026. Thank you, Texas!
Meanwhile, the military is doing its part to keep the American people safe. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that an additional 140 miles of land along the border in Arizona is about to be transferred from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Defense. Those miles will become an extension of Marine Corps Station Yuma.
Two other military zones—one in New Mexico and one in Texas—have already been created and staffed by active-duty troops. Another 250 miles will soon be transferred to the Department of the Air Force in Texas to extend Joint Base San Antonio.
This was an ingenious plan. Not only does it give the military something to do that all the troops support, but it circumvents much of the nonsense that happens otherwise. Trespassing on a US military base isn’t the same as getting scooped up in the Home Depot parking lot. There won’t be any lawyers, courts, or activist groups coming to save an illegal caught breaching military property.
After a quick trial, a first offense carries a 1-year prison sentence. The military has already prosecuted a handful of illegals who were dumb enough to make the attempt. Rather than jailing them for a year, they’re deporting these people and promising them that a second offense carries a 10-year prison sentence. In Guantanamo.
This final bit isn’t directly related to the wall, but it’s important for border security. On July 1, Tennessee had a new law go into effect. Landlords can now be prosecuted if they knowingly rent a home or apartment to an illegal alien. Congress should make that a federal law!
President Trump is delivering on promises to the American people. Some of these promises—like the border wall—have been broken by past presidents for more than a hundred years.
Thank you, President Trump!