NEW YORK, August 20. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump has instructed to paint the border wall with Mexico black so that it can prevent illegal migrants from climbing as it gets warmer in the hot sun, Secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said.

"If you look at the structure 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," Noem told reporters during a visit to El Paso on the border between the United States and Mexico.

"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. 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," she continued.

According to her, the United States has an extensive amount of resources allocated in a bill recently adopted by Congress to enable continued construction. The construction right now is at a pace of a little bit less than half a kilometer, Kristi said. She also announced plans to install waterborne infrastructure without specifying if that will span rivers, reservoirs, or maritime borders with Mexico as well.

The Chief of the US Border Patrol, Mike Banks, said at the same news conference that painting the wall black will protect it from rusting as he also said that black gets hotter and makes it more difficult to climb. Also, lighting, camera systems, and ground sensing technology will also be installed, Banks added.

The construction of a wall on the border with Mexico was a key pledge of Trump’s election campaign back in 2016. In March, US Vice President JD Vance said the construction will be completed by the end of Trump’s second presidential tenure in 2029.