Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced on Tuesday that the entire southern border wall will be painted black as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to increase the effectiveness of the wall as a deterrent.

Speaking in front of a portion of the southern border wall in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Noem explained that the wall would be painted entirely black for the dual purposes of making it heat up more and thus harder to climb, as well as increasing the lifespan of the metal.

Noem said the new paintwork comes at the request of President Donald Trump.

«If you look at the structure that’s behind me, it’s tall, which makes it very, very difficult to climb, almost impossible. It also goes deep into the ground, which would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to dig under. And today we are also going to be painting it black,» said Noem.

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«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,» she added.

«So, we are going to be painting the entire southern border wall black to make sure that we encourage individuals to not come into our country illegally, to not break our federal laws, but that they will abide and come to our country the right way so that they can stay and have the opportunity to become United States citizens and pursue the American dream.»

Noem credited the ‘one big, beautiful bill’ that was passed by Congress in July for allocating «an incredible amount of resources» that she said is «going to allow us to continue construction» of the wall.

The secretary said that construction on the wall is advancing at a pace of close to half a mile per day. Besides additional wall and the new paint job, Noem said the administration is also investing in technology, cameras, sensors and waterborne infrastructure that she said will ensure the border «will be secure far into the future and that will be efficient as well.»

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A Border Patrol agent walks between a gap along the border wall between the U.S. and Mexico in Yuma, Arizona on June 1, 2022.  (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

She also mentioned that the administration is not just focused on the southern border but also the northern as well, saying, «We’re doing due diligence in securing every single inch of our border.»

«Remember that a nation without borders is no nation at all,» she said. «We’re so thankful that we have a president that understands that and understands that a secure border is important to our country’s future.»

Noem was joined by several Border Patrol agents and officials, including Interim Chief Patrol Agent for the El Paso Sector Walter Slosar. He shared that agents in the sector are now apprehending an average of 41 people per day, compared to 2,300 a day under the Biden administration in 2023. 

Slosar said the seven-day average for gotaways in the sector is currently nine. He said the majority of those apprehended are single adults from Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador.

While agents were left simply «observing» migrants passing through under Biden, Slosar said illegals are now «running from us.»

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The United States border, El Paso, Texas. (Kelly Laco/Fox News Digital)

«We’re apprehending those individuals. Our gotaways are the lowest they’ve ever been. And we’re putting we’re working with the Department of Justice … we’re putting criminal charges on those individuals applying consequences and our partners in ICE ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] are removing those individuals from the United States.»

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Slosar said that the morale among Border Patrol agents in the El Paso sector «is better than it’s ever been because we are doing our national security job, and we are keeping this area safe.»

«Words and messages matter. It is not okay to enter the country illegally, and somebody is finally saying that, that’s our leadership here in the U.S government,» he said.  

El ministro sirio de Relaciones Exteriores, Asad Al Shibani, se entrevistó el martes con una delegación israelí en París para discutir sobre la “desescalada” entre ambos países vecinos, con miras a reforzar la “estabilidad en la región”, anunció la agencia oficial siria SANA.

Las discusiones fueron acerca de “un cierto número de temas relacionados con el refuerzo de la estabilidad en la región y el sur de Siria“, así como la “desescalada y la no interferencia en los asuntos internos sirios”.

Las delegaciones de ambos países, abordaron la “vigilancia del cese el fuego” en la región de mayoría drusa de Sueida, donde violencias intercomunitarias causaron más de 1.400 muertos, según una ONG, y provocaron la intervención de Israel.

Las conversaciones también abordaron el asunto de un retorno al acuerdo de 1974 entre ambos países, por el que se creó una zona de distensión.

“Estas discusiones se llevan a cabo bajo mediación estadounidense, en el marco de los esfuerzos diplomáticos para reforzar la seguridad y la estabilidad en Siria y preservar la unidad y la integridad de su territorio”, agregó la agencia siria.

Por otra parte, el ministro de Exteriores sirio, Asaad al Shaibani, abordó este martes en París “diversos temas relacionados con la mejora de la estabilidad en la región y el sur de Siria” con una delegación israelí, después de que la violencia en la gobernación de Sueida, que estalló por enfrentamientos sectarios, dejara desde julio más de 1.500 muertos.

Por otra parte, la comisión para las personas desaparecidas en Siria estimó este lunes en más de 300.000 las personas desaparecidas desde la década de 1970, cuando la familia Al Assad tomó el poder, hasta la actualidad, momento en el que se ha creado un sistema de justicia de transición por parte de las autoridades instauradas en el país.

El presidente de la comisión, Mohamad Rada Jaljani, explicó a la agencia de noticias SANA que los cálculos actuales del número de personas desaparecidas oscilan entre 120.000 y 300.000, “pero la cifra real podría ser mucho mayor”, porque hay varios factores que complican el proceso de inventario.

Entre las razones que afectan a dicho proceso, citó la falta de denuncia de algunas familias por motivos de seguridad o políticos, y la presencia de personas desaparecidas en manos de entidades vinculadas al anterior régimen, que carecen de documentos sobre ellas.

Jalji reveló que la comisión cuenta actualmente con un mapa que contiene más de 63 fosas comunes documentadas, pero explicó que casi a diario llega información sobre otras localizaciones que no han sido verificadas por el momento.

En una entrevista, calificó la labor de la comisión como “fundamental para el proceso de justicia transicional y, por ende para el logro de la paz civil en Siria”, razón por la que ha pedido la cooperación de las instituciones, organizaciones civiles, familias y mecanismos internacionales.

Las autoridades instauradas en Siria tras el derrocamiento en diciembre de 2024 del régimen de Bashar al Assad a raíz de una ofensiva de yihadistas y rebeldes iniciaron la puesta en pie de un sistema de justicia de transición que ha recibido críticas por su limitado mandato, que socava las posibilidades de una rendición de cuentas y compensación para las víctimas.

La Presidencia siria, ocupada por el líder del grupo yihadista Hayat Tahrir al Sham (HTS), Ahmed al Shara —conocido previamente por su nombre de guerra, Abú Mohamed al Golan—, desveló el 18 de mayo la creación de comisiones de justicia y desaparecidos para juzgar crímenes cometidos durante el régimen de Al Assad.

Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett knows how to command an audience. 

This was crystallized Monday night at the Swissotel in Chicago, where she spoke for just three minutes to several hundred judges and legal professionals gathered for the Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference.

Her remarks, though short, were optimistic and warm. She urged the courts to keep their sense of «camaraderie and professionalism» despite inevitable, sharp disagreements. This, she said, is «what enables the judicial system to work well.» 

Barrett smiled fondly as she remembered her time on the 7th Circuit, where she served for several years prior to her nomination to the Supreme Court. She introduced the next speaker, who took the stage to another standing ovation.

And just as quickly as she entered the packed ballroom, she was gone.

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As the youngest justice on the bench, Barrett’s ideology over her nearly five-term tenure on the Supreme Court has been the subject of furious speculation, and at times, just plain fury. 

Conservatives have panned her record as more moderate than that of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, for whom she once clerked. Liberals have been incensed by her reluctance to side more consistently with the court’s left-leaning justices on abortion, federal powers and other seminal cases.

Barrett’s voting record is more moderate than Scalia’s, according to a June New York Times data analysis that found she plays an «increasingly central role» on the court.

Barrett used her time on Monday to implore the group of judges to maintain a sense of grace, decorum, and respect for colleagues, despite the inevitable, heated disagreements that will occur.

The warm, if somewhat lofty, sense of idealism on display is one that is expected to be echoed further in her forthcoming memoir, «Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution,» slated for publication next month. 

The theme of Monday’s remarks, to the extent there was one, stressed working toward common goals, accepting ideological differences and embracing disagreement while keeping a broader perspective — a point echoed by Barrett and earlier speakers, who cited David Brooks repeatedly in praising purpose-driven public service.

The upside of so many hours spent in disagreement, Barrett said, is learning how to strike that balance.

«We know how to argue well,» she said. «We also know how to argue without letting it consume relationships.»

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The view from the 2025 Seventh Circuit Judicial Conference at the Swissotel Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, on Aug 18, 2025. Justice Amy Coney Barrett delivered brief remarks to attendees.  (Breanne Deppisch/Fox News)

This has been especially true during Trump’s second term, as the Supreme Court presided over a record blitz of emergency appeals and orders filed by the administration and other aggrieved parties in response to the hundreds of executive orders signed in his first months in office.

The high court has ruled in Trump’s favor in the majority of emergency applications, allowing the administration to proceed with its ban on transgender service members in the military, its termination of millions of dollars in Education Department grants and its firing of probationary employees across the federal government, among many other actions.

Even so, it is Barrett who has emerged as the most-talked-about justice on the high court this term, confounding and frustrating observers as they tried and failed to predict how she would vote.

She’s been hailed as the «most interesting justice on the bench,» a «trailblazer,» and an iconoclast, among other things. 

But on Monday, she stressed that the commonalities among judges, both for the 7th Circuit and beyond, are far greater than what issues divide them. 

As for her own work, Barrett offered few details — her remarks began and ended in less time than it takes to microwave a burrito.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett attends U.S. President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025, in Washington, D.C.  (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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It’s unclear if, or to what extent, Barrett’s schedule may have changed at the eleventh hour — a reflection of the many demands placed on sitting Supreme Court justices, whose schedules are often subject to change or cancellation at a moment’s notice.

The 7th Circuit did not immediately respond to Fox News’s questions as to what, if anything, had changed on Barrett’s end. 

Questions swirled as she exited. Had she planned longer remarks? Was the agenda misread? Or is she saving details for her memoir and looming book tour, as one reporter suggested?

Her appearance, full of irony, left observers with more questions than answers. Whether she addresses them in the weeks ahead remains to be seen.