'Paint borders black, make it too hot to climb over': Trump administration pushes for US-Mexico border makeover; paint walls black to deter migrants

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday said President Donald Trump had directed that the US-Mexico border wall be painted black, arguing that the dark surface would make it too hot for migrants to climb.

Speaking at a press conference in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Noem said, "that is specifically at the request of the president, who understands that in the hot temperatures down here, when something is painted black, it gets even warmer, and it will make it even harder for people to climb.”

“Now, if you look at the structure that’s behind me, it’s tall, which makes it very, very difficult to climb, almost impossible. It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under. And today, we are also going to be painting it black", she added.

Trump had signed what he called a “big, beautiful bill” last month, allocating $165 billion to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The bulk of the funds were earmarked for strengthening the southern border and deporting migrants who were in the country illegally. Of this, $46.5 billion was dedicated to the construction of the new border wall, work on which had begun during Trump’s first term in the White House.

Noem said the wall would also undergo a technological upgrade with the addition of “technology, cameras, sensors.”

Reports of Trump’s plans to paint the border wall black had first surfaced during his earlier administration in 2020, when officials confirmed they were testing a black coating along certain sections.