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How many miles of new barrier were constructed under the Biden administration through 2025?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows multiple, sometimes conflicting tallies of “new” barrier construction tied to the Biden administration through 2025: mainstream press and CBP materials document a narrowly targeted resumption that produced about 20 miles announced in October 2023 (BBC, Newsweek, PBS) [1] [2] [3], while conservation and advocacy groups cite larger cumulative figures from later announcements (e.g., a November 5, 2024 Biden announcement of 40 miles) [4]. Official CBP maps emphasize that “Completed” mileage counts only since January 20, 2025, complicating comparisons with prior administrations [5].
1. What the Biden administration itself approved and why
Reporting in October 2023 recorded that the Biden administration approved roughly a 20‑mile section of new barrier in the Rio Grande Valley, with White House and DHS officials framing it as using previously appropriated Trump‑era funds to close specific “high illegal entry” gaps (BBC; Newsweek; PBS) [1] [2] [3]. Those accounts present the project as a limited, reactive decision rather than a broad return to mass wall construction [1] [3].
2. How different outlets count “new miles” differently
The discrepancy across sources reflects differing definitions: some pieces count only newly built primary barrier where none existed before; others count “gap closures” or replacements of remedial fencing; CBP’s Smart Wall map explicitly separates “Existing Barrier (prior to 1/20/2025)” from “Completed — Represents the total mileage that has been completed since 1/20/2025,” making cross‑administration totals hard to aggregate without careful labeling [5]. Advocacy groups and state/local reports sometimes add later announced projects (e.g., a November 2024 Biden announcement of 40 miles) that aren’t consistently reflected in every dataset [4].
3. Post‑2023 announcements and advocacy group tallies
At least one conservation group’s 2025 update cites a Biden administration announcement on November 5, 2024, of 40 miles of construction (26 miles in Texas; 14 miles across CA, AZ, NM) and treats that as additive to earlier 20‑mile approvals [4]. Wildlands Network frames these incremental builds as “gap closures” and warns of ecological impacts, but that organization’s count differs from press narratives that focused on the original 20‑mile Texas approval [4].
4. Official CBP tracking and the January 20, 2025 cutoff
U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Smart Wall materials make clear their mapping distinguishes barriers built before 1/20/2025 and those “Completed — Represents the total mileage that has been completed since 1/20/2025” [5]. That means any official “completed under Biden” figure that relies on CBP’s completed metric will understate earlier Biden‑period actions (like the 2023 Texas waivers) unless the CBP dataset is read in full context [5].
5. Media summaries and shorthand figures to be cautious about
Major outlets routinely summarized the October 2023 action as “20 miles” (BBC, Newsweek, PBS) — a clear and repeatedly cited number — but those shorthand figures do not capture later announcements, planning miles, environmental waivers, or CBP’s different accounting for projects after January 20, 2025 [1] [2] [3] [5]. Conservation groups and later local reporting introduce higher tallies (e.g., 40 miles announced Nov. 2024) that media summaries did not uniformly adopt [4].
6. Why you see conflicting totals and what’s missing
Conflict emerges because sources use different baselines (miles where no prior fence existed vs. “gap closures” or replacements), different time cutoffs (pre‑1/20/2025 vs. post‑1/20/2025 CBP “Completed” metric), and differing scopes (announcements vs. ground‑completed miles). Available sources do not provide a single, consolidated official total labeled “miles of new barrier constructed under the Biden administration through 2025” that reconciles those categories [5] [1] [4].
7. Short answer, with caveats
If you cite the most widely reported single figure from the 2023 decision, use 20 miles (BBC; Newsweek; PBS) and note it was framed as using earlier appropriations to close high‑entry gaps [1] [2] [3]. If you include later announcements cited by advocacy groups, add the November 2024 40‑mile figure reported by Wildlands Network — but acknowledge that CBP’s mapping and other outlets separate completed work since 1/20/2025 and therefore do not present one reconciled cumulative number [4] [5].
8. What reporters and researchers should do next
To produce a single, defensible miles‑built figure through 2025, consult CBP’s Smart Wall map project‑by‑project (which tags prior vs. post‑1/20/2025 miles), cross‑check contract awards and completion notices, and clearly state whether counts include gap closures, replacements, or only brand‑new primary barrier — because the sources show that small definitional choices change totals markedly [5] [1] [4].