Immigration & refugees

US Border Wall Set for Completion by 2027

Is the southern border wall enough to stop cartels or is drone technology making physical barriers obsolete?

Published JUN 11

US Border Wall Set for Completion by 2027

Story

Above: CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott speaks at the U.S.-Mexico border in Nogales, Arizona, on Feb. 4. Image credit: Olivier Touron/AFP/Getty Images

The Spin

Pro-establishment narrative

The southern border wall is on track for completion by mid-2027, with all remaining contracts expected to be awarded by month's end. A secondary wall and smart surveillance technology — including real-time drone monitoring — will follow by 2028. Combined with President Trump's new $70 billion border security package, the effort will provide the tools needed to continuously disrupt cartel routes and free DHS to focus resources on the increasingly pressured northern border.

Fox Business on X

Rodney S. Scott on X

Establishment-critical narrative

A physical wall alone won't stop cartels already running roughly 1,000 drone incursions a month across the southern border. Traffickers use drones to monitor patrols, scout weak points and move contraband — and fiber-optic drones are now making those systems nearly impossible to jam. Without a more serious counter-UAS strategy layered on top of any barrier, the border security picture will likely stay dangerously incomplete.

South China Morning Post CSIS