More than 330 miles of new "border wall capability" will be in place by the end of 2020, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost said Monday, noting that repairs to the wall in the San Diego area bring the current total to "57 miles that we have put in."
An additional 47 miles is under contract. Provost told Fox News' "Fox and Friends."
This spring, President Donald Trump told supporters that 500 miles of the wall would be built by the 2020 election.
Provost insisted that work on the wall makes it safer for the men and women in the Border Patrol to do their jobs.
"They have been assaulted over 600 times this year, which is just unacceptable," Provost said. "They can see through this (wall). It has an anti-dig feature to it, anti-climb features. It makes it really, really difficult for the bad actors that are coming across the border, and there are still many, many bad actors trying to come across our border."
Meanwhile, the morale of the patrol agents is still a concern, Provost said, but she discusses that with them and tells them that Americans understand the importance of their work.
"I will tell you they are a resilient group," she said. "It's impressive to see when you consider all of the challenges they are up against."
Meanwhile, she said comments made by newly elected Guatemala President Alejandro Giammattei, who opposes the migration deal signed with the United States by his predecessor, are a concern.
"We need both Mexico and Guatemala to continue doing what they're doing," she said. "That being said, it's still just a band-aid to the situation. We need Congress to do something if we are really going to deal with the immigration problem."
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