CBP Urged to Audit AI Border Towers After 1,050 Nearby Deaths
CBP faces calls to audit AI border towers after more than 1,050 deaths near surveillance sites, while the US plans a major $1 billion expansion by 2034.
Summary
An examination of nearly 600 US border surveillance towers identified more than 1,050 people who died nearby, including migrants who crossed undetected and remained undiscovered for weeks or months. The total is an undercount because CBP publishes no comprehensive map, while the government says 800 towers operate today. Electronic Frontier Foundation mapping and satellite imagery located and dated towers approximately. In 2024 alone, more than 18 people died near towers in one small desert area near New Mexico state representative Sarah Silva’s district. Failures included broken equipment, missed AI detections and unanswered alerts. Anduril continues winning contracts as the US prepares to spend $1 billion to triple the virtual wall by 2034.
Proposed reforms are a comprehensive audit, reliable death records, accurate logging of technology assisted apprehensions and automatic investigation of every death within surveillance range. CBP could have audited tower performance since installing the analyzed types in 2015 but apparently has not. Border Patrol introduced the Border Safety Initiative Tracking System in 2007, standardized entries in 2021, and was still missing cases when the GAO reviewed it in 2022; improvements followed in 2023, but outside estimates remain higher. The Missing Migrant Program began in 2017, yet an April 2025 GAO review found no plan to measure rescues or reduced deaths, and two recommendations remain unimplemented. GAO requested apprehension tracking in 2014, found unreliable data in 2017, and noted that CBP had produced no effectiveness analysis by August 2021; a 2022 analysis remains private. CBP usually deletes tower footage after 30 days, so immediate reviews could preserve evidence and determine whether towers failed or agents ignored alerts.
Positives
- Nearly 600 towers were independently mapped and analyzed using Electronic Frontier Foundation data and satellite imagery.
- The 2023 tracking improvements addressed some missing cases in Border Patrol’s death records.
- The Missing Migrant Program improved collection of 911 call and rescue data by April 2025.
- GPS coordinates already logged by agents could support automatic checks of deaths against surveillance coverage.
- A 2022 CBP analysis assessed tower effectiveness, although its findings remain unavailable publicly.
Risks & concerns
- More than 1,050 people died near surveillance towers, and the incomplete tower map makes that figure an undercount.
- More than 18 deaths occurred near towers in one small New Mexico desert area during 2024 alone.
- Broken towers, failed AI detections and unanswered alerts allowed some migrants to pass unseen or remain undiscovered.
- CBP plans a $1 billion expansion despite lacking a public, reliable assessment of the virtual wall’s effectiveness.
- Surveillance footage is generally deleted after 30 days unless CBP opens an internal review.
- Two GAO recommendations for measuring whether the Missing Migrant Program saves lives remain unimplemented.