Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem says President Trump wants the border wall painted black to deter climbers by increasing heat retention and reducing rust.

Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico

This article was originally published by Source New Mexico.

SANTA TERESA - U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced Tuesday that President Donald Trump wants all 600-plus miles of the border barrier with Mexico painted black.

The reasons, Noem said, are twofold. First, it will prevent rust. Second, she said, it will burn the skin of anyone trying to climb over.

“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,” Noem said during an afternoon news conference in which temperatures rose to 92 degrees.

Noem did not answer questions from reporters about the cost or time frame for painting the wall, other than to say not all the work has been contracted yet. She delivered Tuesday’s announcement from behind a podium posed in front of a solitary painted section of the steel barrier. She was flanked by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on a strip of land sandwiched between rows of empty cattle corrals — a result of the parasitic fly closing cattle trade.

The announcement prompted a rebuke from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office.

“Painting a border wall black to injure people who are seeking a better life is, sadly, emblematic of the Trump administration’s cruel approach to immigration enforcement. A more sensible, humane, and economically advantageous solution is to pass comprehensive immigration reform that would benefit both sides of the border,” Communications Director Michael Coleman said in a statement provided to Source NM.

Coleman noted that the governor “for years has requested additional federal assistance to combat drug trafficking and other nefarious criminal activity in the border region, but she strongly opposes the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts that would break up families and harm New Mexico’s economy and communities.”

Earlier Tuesday, Noem toured with state and local officials areas of Ruidoso damaged by repeated monsoon floods, which Coleman praised, saying Lujan Grisham “appreciates Sec. Noem’s visit to Ruidoso, which allowed her to see firsthand the devastation wrought by recent flooding. Federal assistance after disasters like this is crucial to helping communities rebuild.” Noem announced $11.4 million in disaster funds for Ruidoso Tuesday evening. That’s on top of U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency allocation of $2.7 million for damages related to flooding in New Mexico.

Noem then traveled from Ruidoso to New Mexico’s border, where she delivered her announcement about painting the border barrier along its deadliest stretch. The area saw 176 deaths last year, according to border control, mostly due to heat, but the figure also includes falls from climbing over the barriers.

Border crossings and deaths are down in the area, Walter Slosar, the interim chief for the El Paso Sector of border patrol, said during the news conference. Slosar attributed the decline to the Trump administration’s hard line. Apprehensions are down to 39 people per day across 268 miles of international border in the sector, down from more than 2,400 people in 2023.

“Words and messages matter,” Slosar said. “It is not OK to enter the country illegally, and somebody’s finally saying it, our leadership here in the U.S. government.”

Noem had little to say about the recent expansion of efforts to detain immigrants in military bases, including plans to hold 1,000 people at Fort Bliss, in El Paso abutting the New Mexico state line.

“My goal is not to build hundreds of thousands of beds, my goal is to get people out of this country that are here illegally,” she said. “That’s where our focus is, and so we’ll build as many detention beds as we need to get the job done.”

When asked by Source NM if the Trump administration has any specific plans for detention in New Mexico, Noem was noncommittal.

“There could be, I know New Mexico is having debates going on with their detention centers. We’re planning on keeping our presence there and expanding if possible,” she said.

The governor’s chief counsel recently told state lawmakers Lujan Grisham may consider legislation to ban the presence of federal immigration detention centers in the state in an upcoming, though as yet unscheduled, special session.

Tuesday’s news conference was festooned on either side with cherry-picker sniper posts looking over an 18-foot older steel mesh barrier. On the Mexico side, federal law enforcement, Guardia Nacional patrolled in trucks outfitted in black and white uniforms and armed with long guns.

In response to media questions, Noem said the federal government has no timeline for removing troops from the border.

“That’ll be the president’s decision,” Noem said.

Danielle Prokop covers the environment and local government in Southern New Mexico for Source NM.