The wall was a constant source of controversy, prompting fierce criticism from environmentalists and Democrats. Its construction and funding was also the target of a number of lawsuits.
Before Biden stopped new construction on the wall, the Trump administration had built 458 miles of what it dubbed “border wall system,” according to final figures compiled by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and provided to U.S. News.
The wall consists mostly of 18- to 30-foot steel bollards anchored in concrete. The barriers also feature sensors, lights, cameras and parallel roads in some places.
The vast majority of the 458 miles were constructed in places where some kind of barrier already existed, but most of the preexisting structures were far less imposing than the new wall and included fencing and rudimentary technical barriers. The total figure also includes what the agency calls “secondary border wall” or sections of wall built behind preexisting barriers that ultimately remained in place.
