How many miles of new primary and secondary barrier have been constructed versus replaced or repaired through December 2025?
Executive summary
Available official and media sources show existing barrier mileage prior to Jan. 20, 2025 as roughly 702 miles of primary wall and 76 miles of secondary wall, and they report a mix of new projects initiated, awarded, or waived through late 2025 — including roughly 83 miles of traditional wall and 17 miles of waterborne projects in planning/under construction and individual contract awards for 27 miles and other batches summing to about 230 miles planned under recent contract packages [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Available sources do not provide a single, consolidated figure that breaks down — through December 2025 — how many miles were newly constructed versus how many were replacements or repairs; instead, reporting and government releases list miles “existing prior to 1/20/2025,” miles “initiated,” “under construction,” “completed since 1/20/2025,” and contract totals without a uniform replacement/repair categorization [1] [6] [2].
1. Baseline: what was already built before Jan. 20, 2025
CBP’s Smart Wall materials and secondary sources agree on the baseline: about 702 miles of primary barrier and about 76 miles of secondary barrier existed prior to January 20, 2025; that baseline is the reference frame used in CBP’s “Smart Wall Map” and related reporting [1] [7].
2. New projects initiated, awarded, and waived — tallies reported by officials
Since Jan. 20, 2025, CBP and DHS releases and reporting list multiple new initiatives: CBP cited “more than 80 miles” of new permanent barrier projects initiated across multiple sectors (San Diego, Yuma, Tucson, El Paso, Rio Grande Valley) [6]; CBP/DHS announced a 27‑mile contract in Arizona and waivers enabling roughly 17 additional miles in Texas [3]; and White House messaging said CBP had 83 miles of traditional wall and 17 miles of waterborne barriers either under construction or in planning using carryover funds [2]. Separate DHS/CBP announcements of contract awards and waivers in fall 2025 — and press reporting — describe packages that together are characterized as covering roughly 230 miles in recent announcements tied to $4.5 billion in contracts [4] [5].
3. What the government’s Smart Wall Map does — and does not — disclose
The CBP “Smart Wall Map” is presented as the primary authoritative tracker for “existing barrier (prior to 1/20/2025),” projects “planned,” “under construction,” and “completed since 1/20/2025.” The map and status chart are updated weekly and distinguish existing versus new work, but they do not publish a simple aggregate figure in the sources provided that separates “newly constructed miles” from “miles replaced or repaired” through December 2025 [1].
4. Conflicting or overlapping counts in public statements
Public statements and press releases use varying categories — “initiated,” “under construction,” “completed since 1/20/2025,” “in planning,” and contract totals — leading to overlapping counts. For example, some sources cite “more than 80 miles initiated” [6] while a White House release cited “83 miles traditional + 17 miles waterborne either under construction or in planning” [2]; separate contract award bulletins count discrete contract mileages (e.g., 27 miles) and waiver summaries add another ~36 miles in Arizona/New Mexico [3] [8]. Those figures can be additive or duplicative depending on whether planning-stage miles later become contracted or reported as “initiated” [6] [8].
5. On replacements and repairs: the record is not explicit
Available sources do not provide a clear, sourced breakdown that quantifies how many miles through December 2025 were outright new primary or secondary barrier versus how many were replacements, repairs, or upgrades to pre‑existing structures. CBP’s baseline distinguishes “existing barrier (prior to 1/20/2025)” and the Smart Wall Map shows new vs. existing layers, but the sources provided here do not publish a single cumulative replacement/repair mileage total [1].
6. What independent and watchdog reporting adds — and its limits
Media and watchdog outlets referenced in these results describe contract awards, waivers of environmental rules, and legal challenges to construction, underscoring that many projects proceeded under waivers and that some contracts were funded from different appropriations tranches (FY2020/21 carryover and later One Big Beautiful Bill funding) [4] [8] [9]. Those reports corroborate that substantial new construction was planned and contracted in 2025 but do not replace the absent consolidated replacement/repair breakdown [4] [9].
7. Bottom line and path to a definitive answer
There is no single, authoritative figure in the provided sources that answers “how many miles of new primary and secondary barrier have been constructed versus replaced or repaired through December 2025.” To produce that exact split requires either (a) the CBP Smart Wall Map’s underlying dataset or weekly status reports exported and tallied through December 2025, or (b) a CBP/DHS public statement that explicitly gives miles built vs. miles replaced/repaired to that date — neither of which appears in the available documents [1]. For a precise tally, consult the CBP Smart Wall Map downloads or request a formal CBP breakdown of “newly constructed” versus “replacement/repair” miles through Dec. 2025.