The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Friday that $4.5 billion had been awarded to 10 new construction projects along the southwest border. 

The projects are the first to be funded through the GOP’s expansive One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law in early July. 

The bill allocated $165 billion to DHS — the parent agency of CBP — to increase personnel and fund border security projects. Around $46.5 billion was allocated specifically to complete construction of a border wall. 

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott celebrated the news in a press release, saying the projects would increase the agency’s capabilities and enhance border security. 

“For years, Washington talked about border security but failed to deliver. This President changed that,” Scott said in the release. 

The Trump administration noted the 10 projects would help them construct a “Smart Wall” — or a border security system that “combines steel barriers, waterborne barriers, patrol roads, lights, cameras, and advanced detection technology.”

“The Smart Wall means more miles of barriers, more technology, and more capability for our agents on the ground,” the CBP commissioner added in the release. “This is how you take control of the border.”

In an August press conference, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem also alluded to the construction, saying the border wall would be getting a makeover with more “technology, cameras, sensors” added to it. 

“We are also going to be painting it black,” Noem said. “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.”

Construction will take place at locations across Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. According to the release, the contracts will add more than 230 miles of barriers and nearly 400 miles of technology along the border.

Noem also issued two waivers for projects in CBP’s San Diego and El Paso, Texas, sectors to “cut through bureaucratic red tape and expedite the construction,” according to the administration.

Vice President Vance said earlier this year that Trump is hoping to finish building the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border by the end of his term in 2029.