Trump admin shares border plans for 2025 and beyond: 'As much wall as we need'

"Our absolute intent is to build as much wall as we need to get the border under control," says Border Patrol Chief Michael Banks. He recently boasted on X "back in business" with photos of one project along the Rio Grande in Texas.  

"Operational control is what we are trying to achieve,"  Jeffrey Stalnaker, San Diego Border Patrol Sector Chief, said Tuesday. "We're trying to detect anyone and everything coming across the border illegally. And to have 100 percent situational awareness of what's going on in our area of responsibility."

In October, the San Diego sector averaged 451 illegal crossings every day.  In March, under President Trump, that average daily number fell to 39.

On that front, Banks wants to expand the use of large blocking buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande and backstop them with walls on the shoreline. It's a multi-layered security zone that exists in other areas of the border.  "What you'll have is a two-tiered system," Banks says.

All told, Border Patrol officials would like to add up to nearly 1,000 miles of additional barriers in the years to come - if Congress provides the funding. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.) introduced a bill in January that would allocate $25 billion for that purpose.

In the meantime, crews continue to plug gaps like the one in Smuggler's Gulch.

"We're going to catch everyone that's crossing and be aware of what's going on in our area of responsibility," Stalnaker said as a bulldozer behind him cleared the way for the next wall panel to go into the ground.