US-Mexico border wall painted black to make it hotter, harder to climb

Since taking office on January 20, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump has expressed a strong determination to curb immigration.

In a bid to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, the U.S. has already built a wall at the border but that didn’t stop immigration as many climbed over the wall to get into the country.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) started putting barriers along the border in May 2011, covering 649 miles.

President Trump, during his previous tenure extended the barriers by another 438 miles. He, at that time, also promised a giant wall to cover the whole border area.

For the unversed, the U.S. and Mexico share a border of around 1933 miles.

Now, the Trump administration has decided to paint the wall black to make it hotter and harder to climb.

US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem credited the President for the idea.

Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill, which resulted in a dispute between him and billionaire Elon Musk, passed earlier this summer also allocated $46m for additional wall construction.

Noem said, “About a half mile of wall is going up each day along the nearly 2000-mile border.”

In addition to making it hotter and harder to climb, Border officials expressed that black paint will also help prevent rusting on walls.

This comes amid a strict crackdown against immigration by the current U.S. administration.

According to the BBC, a 92 per cent year-on-year reduction has been reported in illegal immigration. The figures remained as low as 4,600 in July and 6,000 in June.

The government is currently also deporting illegal immigrants from the country. According to the Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, a total of 3,00,000 undocumented immigrants had been detained in the first six months of Trump’s rule.