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What counts as 'completed' vs 'replacement' in CBP border wall statistics 2020 2025?
Executive summary
CBP’s public pages distinguish “completed” on the new Smart Wall map as mileage finished since January 20, 2025, while CBP’s broader FAQ and historical releases make a separate operational distinction between “new” construction (in locations with no prior barrier) and “replacement” (where an older barrier is removed and a new system installed) [1] [2] [3]. Past CBP/DHS project descriptions and press releases show funding and contracts that mix truly new miles, replacement miles, and “system attributes” work—CBP sometimes reports totals that combine those categories, producing different headline mileages depending on the framing [4] [5] [2].
1. How CBP labels “Completed” on the Smart Wall map — a date cutoff, not a lifespan
CBP’s Smart Wall Map explicitly defines “Completed” as the total mileage that has been completed since 1/20/2025, i.e., a temporal definition tied to the administration start date rather than an engineering classification of whether a barrier is new or replaced [1]. That means mileage shown as “Completed” on that map is a snapshot of work finished after that date, regardless of whether it replaced older fencing or stood where no barrier previously existed [1].
2. What CBP and DHS mean by “replacement” versus “new” in program language
CBP and DHS program FAQs and past project pages show the operational distinction: “replacement” projects remove or rebuild an existing, often “legacy” or “deteriorated” barrier to meet current Border Patrol requirements, while “new” primary barrier refers to installation where no primary barrier existed before [2] [6]. CBP’s project planning documents and local press releases repeatedly describe replacement contracts—for example, replacing vehicle barriers in Santa Teresa or Calexico with new bollard-style fencing—as replacement projects [6] [7].
3. Why mile counts vary across statements and administrations
Multiple CBP releases and reporting explain that mile totals can mix categories—new primary barrier, replacement of old primary barrier, secondary barriers, waterborne barriers, and “system attributes” (roads, cameras, lighting). For example, CBP has announced combined totals for completed miles funded by specific fiscal years, which included both new miles and replacement work [4] [2]. Independent reporting from 2020 showed much of the reported “built” mileage under one administration largely consisted of replacement fence rather than entirely new coverage, underscoring how aggregation choices change the headline number [3] [8].
4. How contracts and project announcements reveal mixed scopes
Large 2025 Smart Wall contracts publicly posted by CBP specify line items that include new primary Smart Wall miles, some replacement miles, and completion of system attributes—explicitly mixing types of work in single awards [5]. Local CBP media releases likewise describe projects as “replacement” with explicit mileages (e.g., 2.25 miles in Calexico; 20 miles in Santa Teresa) that are not the same as adding border miles where none existed before [7] [6].
5. Common public confusion and the role of framing
Public confusion stems from different actors using different frames: administrations or spokespeople may present total miles “constructed” without always separating replacement from new construction, while CBP’s own technical materials distinguish project types and use date-based definitions for certain public tools like the Smart Wall Map [1] [2] [3]. Journalists and watchdogs have pointed out that counting replacement miles as “new” can inflate perceptions of expanded geographical coverage versus upgraded existing barriers [3] [8].
6. What is reliably known from available CBP materials and reporting
Available CBP materials show: (a) the Smart Wall Map’s “Completed” tally is since 1/20/2025 [1]; (b) CBP program FAQs and project pages treat replacement and new construction as distinct operational categories used in planning and contracting [2] [6]; and (c) many contract announcements and prior press releases combine new miles, replacement work, and system-attribute completion in reported totals [5] [4]. If you seek a single canonical “how many miles of new barrier vs. replacement” across 2020–2025, available sources do not provide a unified, administration-spanning ledger that separates those two categories end-to-end (not found in current reporting).
7. How to verify specific mileages going forward
To resolve headline differences, compare three things in CBP documentation: the date range (e.g., “since 1/20/2025”), the project descriptions (does the contract or release say “replace” or “new”), and the scope line items (primary vs. secondary vs. system attributes) found in contract announcements and local project releases [1] [5] [7]. Where CBP aggregates mixed work into a single mileage figure, treat that number as combined work unless the specific line items are broken out [4] [2].
Sources cited: CBP Smart Wall Map definition and map FAQ [1] [2]; historical reporting and CBP press releases showing replacement vs. new distinctions [3] [4] [5] [7] [6] [8].