Concertina wire is attached to the border wall in Brownsville Wednesday February 28, 2024.
San Diego, California – Nearly $1.1 billion in new federal contracts will fund construction of what the Department of Homeland Security calls a “Smart Wall” along the California-Mexico border — part of a broader $4.5 billion package of border security projects announced this week under the Trump administration’s “One Big Beautiful Bill.”
The new contracts, awarded by Customs and Border Protection (CBP), will fund two major construction projects in California’s San Diego and El Centro sectors, adding roughly 17 miles of new barriers and more than 115 miles of supporting technology and infrastructure.
According to DHS officials, the so-called Smart Wall will combine traditional steel barriers with a suite of surveillance and detection systems — including cameras, motion sensors, and lighting — aimed at giving Border Patrol “eyes and ears” across long, difficult stretches of terrain.
“For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. This president changed that,” said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott in a statement. “The Smart Wall means more miles of barriers, more technology, and more capability for our agents on the ground. This is how you take control of the border.”
The San Diego 1 Project, awarded to BCCG Joint Venture, totals $483.5 million and covers nine miles of new Smart Wall construction and approximately 52 miles of system upgrades.
The El Centro 1 Project, awarded to Fisher Sand & Gravel Co., is valued at $574 million and includes eight miles of primary wall construction and 63 miles of technology systems along the El Centro and San Diego Sectors.
Together, the two contracts mark the first major California border projects funded under Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill — legislation that consolidates border security, military construction, and homeland defense spending into a single authorization.
Nationwide, the Department of Homeland Security and CBP say the new contracts will add 230 miles of barriers and nearly 400 miles of technology systems across the southwestern border, including projects in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
To speed up construction, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem has issued waivers for environmental and procurement restrictions on approximately nine miles of Smart Wall construction in San Diego County and 30 miles in the El Paso sector of New Mexico.
The Smart Wall’s revival follows a years-long pause on border wall projects during the Biden administration, which froze unspent wall funding from 2021 appropriations. Those funds have now been reactivated as part of the Trump administration’s second-term agenda to expand border control infrastructure.
Critics of the Smart Wall argue that the project amounts to a costly expansion of physical barriers that do little to address root causes of migration, while supporters see it as a technological evolution of the traditional border fence — one that uses data and sensors to detect crossings before agents even arrive on scene.
As for California, the state’s new wall contracts come amid heightened tensions over federal immigration enforcement, as both state and local governments prepare for an influx of construction in border communities already shaped by decades of debate over immigration, security, and sovereignty. DHS officials say construction on both California projects could begin in early 2026.
