The surprising modification Trump wants on the southern border wall to stop climbers

Earlier this week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced that her agents will be working—at the direction of President Trump—to paint hundreds of miles of the border wall as a way to deter people from climbing over it.

In some areas, the wall will be painted black in the hopes that it will become too hot to climb. This update is just one of several changes planned, according to Secretary Noem.

On Tuesday, while touring a section of the wall in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, the secretary said that, “as far as technology” goes, additional cameras and sensors will also be installed. However, it was the new coat of paint that was added to DHS’s to-do list by the White House.

“That is specifically at the request of the president. When something is painted black, it gets even warmer, making it even harder for people to climb,” said Secretary Noem.

Though the goal is to reduce climbing during the warmer months, DHS leaders don’t appear to have addressed the possibility that people might use gloves to handle the heat radiating from the poles. Still, the new paint is expected to add another layer of difficulty to breaching the barrier.

The funding for both the technological upgrades and the paint job was made possible by the historic increase in DHS funding included in the “big beautiful bill” passed by Congressional Republicans earlier this summer.

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