"Until and unless Congress cancels these funds, the law requires DHS to use the funds consistent with their appropriated purpose," the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement announcing the wall construction. Previously, President Joe Biden's administration had called on Congress to take action to prevent more of the wall from being constructed, which is unlikely for now because Republicans control the House.

That statement said that the approximately 20 miles of "steel bollard panels" will be erected along the Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector, as mandated by a 2019 border barrier appropriation under Trump's administration. It noted that "a substantial portion of unobligated funds that had been diverted from the Department of Defense" have been returned to the Pentagon.