4 ways to address the failures we found along the US border’s “virtual wall”

MIT Technology Review published an investigation into deaths near the "virtual wall" of surveillance towers installed along the US-Mexico border. The reporting, part of a collaboration with Times of San Diego called Dying on Camera, found cases of people who walked undetected through areas surveilled by advanced, AI-enabled towers and later died nearby, with bodies unnoticed for weeks or months. The outlet said the cases reflect systemic flaws including broken towers, algorithms that failed to detect people, and agents who did not respond to alerts.

The report offered four recommendations for US Customs and Border Protection. First, conduct a comprehensive audit of deaths near the virtual wall. The outlet said it analyzed nearly 600 towers, fewer than the 800 the government says operate today, and that its tally of more than 1,050 deaths near them is an undercount. It said sources told it CBP has never conducted such an audit despite having the ability since at least 2015.

Second, fix how the agency tracks migrant deaths and remains. The report cited Government Accountability Office findings that many cases were not entered into the Border Safety Initiative Tracking System, and that outside researchers still find agency estimates to be undercounts. Third, track cases when surveillance technology leads to an apprehension; the GAO found in 2017 that such data was inaccurate and unreliable, and the outlet said a former CBP official called the mandate "spitting in the wind." CBP completed an effectiveness analysis in 2022 whose results are not public.

Fourth, investigate deaths as potential surveillance failures. The report said there is no requirement or process to check whether a death occurred near surveillance infrastructure, and that footage is typically deleted after 30 days unless an internal review is opened. It described one New Mexico location where several people died in clear sight of an advanced AI tower within a few months.

The US is set to spend $1 billion to triple the virtual wall by 2034. The report noted Anduril built the latest towers and continues to win major contracts.