Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced the start of a new seven-mile segment of border wall construction in Arizona.
Noem made the announcement on Sunday through a video posted on her X account while at the southern border, stating:
"Everybody, I'm here in Arizona, and right at this spot you can see where the border wall ends. As of today, we're starting seven new miles of construction. We're going to continue to make America safe again"
Announcing today - we’re building 7 more miles of wall.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) March 16, 2025
Make America Safe Again! pic.twitter.com/JyVgxrzSZY
The border wall extension includes a $70 million contract awarded to Granite Construction Co. as CBS News reports.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection stated that this construction aims to "close critical openings" in areas previously left incomplete. CBP described the region as a high-traffic corridor for unauthorized crossings and the smuggling of narcotics and people through a statement also reported by CBS News.
CBP officials also emphasized that completing the wall in this location will enhance DHS's capacity to "impede and deny illegal border crossings and the drug- and human-smuggling activities of cartels."
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Noem, who made the announcement while in Nogales, Arizona, highlighted a sharp reduction in unlawful crossings, with some days seeing fewer than 200 encounters. "That's remarkable. Now our agents can get back to doing their jobs and enforcing the law instead of processing," she told NewsNation.
Noem attributed the decrease to enhanced enforcement measures and the resumption of wall construction. "They recognize that we're enforcing our federal laws, that we're not letting people just walk across the border anymore. We are building a wall, we are securing our borders, and we're not going to let this illegal activity continue," she said, referring to cartel activity.
Through another X post, Noem also shared examples of smuggling tactics:
Fentanyl hidden in watermelons. Humans smuggled in trucks. Meth concealed in charcoal. You name it, our @CBP field officers are finding it.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) March 16, 2025
Proud of the work our officers are doing to keep America safe at Nogales Port of Entry. pic.twitter.com/hNy10ZHnSr
Customs and Border Protection informed last week that there were fewer than 8,500 border crossings in February, the lowest amount for any month in recorded history.
The concrete figure was 8,347, a 94% drop compared to the same month of last year. It was comprised by a little over 2,100 in El Paso, 1,650 in San Diego and 1,285 in the Rio Grande Valley. Yuma, Arizona, saw 243 crossings and El Centro, in California, 162.
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