The biggest obstacle to building more of Trump’s border wall? It’s reportedly Kristi Noem

Officials involved with President Donald Trump’s border wall construction are awaiting sign-off from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to begin building more than 190 miles of barriers at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to recent reports.

An internal memo, outlining border wall progress, obtained by Axios and the Washington Examiner, indicated that, as of January 27, approximately 102 miles of steel wall and 93 miles of water buoy barriers were awaiting approval from Noem.

The document from Customs and Border Protection states that contracts were already awarded for companies to begin construction, but they’re pending approval from “S1” — referring to Noem — who mandated all contracts over $100,000 be personally approved by her.

“She has required all contracts over 100k be signed off by her; I don’t think she fully understands how many 100k contracts DHS has. It has slowed several things down,” an unnamed official told the Washington Examiner in an email.

A senior DHS official confirmed to Axios that the contracts had not yet been signed, but DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin denied that Noem’s signature was holding up the construction.

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“Any claims that border wall construction are being held up by the Secretary are false, there are currently no border wall related contracts pending the Secretary and just last year the Secretary reviewed over a thousand contracts related to border security,” McLaughlin said in a statement.

McLaughlin told the Washington Examiner that border wall contracts do not follow the 100k policy because funding was passed through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last year. Rather, those contracts are first sent to an office within DHS that specifically oversees OBB spending, then to the executive secretary of that office and then to Noem.

In a statement to The Independent, McLaughlin added that DHS had already awarded $12 billion in contracts as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and that the department “takes its fiduciary duty to the American taxpayer seriously.”

The Independent has asked Customs and Border Protection for comment.

Regardless of the border wall construction contract approval process, Noem has faced scrutiny for the $100k contract policy. Last year, sources accused Noem of holding up funding to FEMA when catastrophic flooding hit Texas. DHS denied the allegation.

Trump’s border wall has been one of his signature immigration policies since his first administration. The president initially promised to build a 2,000-mile wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border in a matter of years.

However, construction faced challenges and was not completed by the end of his first term in 2020 due to a lack of funding, resources and challenging terrain that made it difficult to build a physical wall.

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Although the Biden administration continued border wall construction in some areas of the U.S.-Mexico border, much of Trump’s lofty goal was abandoned until he took office again in January 2025.

The president has made a new goal of completing the border wall before the end of his second term in 2029.

Last year, DHS announced several multi-billion-dollar contracts to continue construction of the wall. That will include a “Smart Wall” system that will use lights, cameras and detection technology – especially in areas with unfavorable terrain.

Around 30 miles of border wall have been completed since the second Trump administration, according to Customs and Border Protection.

Noem celebrated the administration’s border enforcement at an event Wednesday in Arizona, commending Border Patrol agents and other immigration enforcement officers for carrying out Trump’s agenda.