US border surveillance towers face significant operational failures — vast areas unwatched, national security potentially at risk

Recent reports have revealed that high-cost southern border surveillance technology is failing to deliver on its purpose.

A leaked memo obtained by NBC News reveals that nearly one-third of the cameras on the border’s primary surveillance towers are currently offline.

The report reveals that out of the 500 cameras installed on surveillance towers along the border between the U.S. and Mexico, about 150 are currently inactive.

Overlapping agencies and fragmented responsibilities

One of the core problems with the surveillance towers lies in the complicated web of federal oversight. While the Border Patrol depends on these systems to monitor remote areas, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responsible for maintaining the towers. This division of responsibility creates delays in repairs and maintenance, undermining the network’s effectiveness.

The Remote Video Surveillance System, where many of these cameras are installed, is only one part of the broader surveillance network. However, the entire system has been hampered by poor coordination, frequent project cancellations, and incompatible technologies developed by different vendors.

The history of surveillance technology at the border is marked by delays, budget overruns, and cancelled programs. One prominent example is the Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet), which aimed to deploy towers across the U.S.-Mexico border. By 2010, after spending $1 billion, only 15 towers had been installed along a 53-mile stretch of Arizona’s border, covering just a fraction of the 387-mile expanse. The program was eventually scrapped in 2011 following internal reviews that criticized its performance and high costs.

There have been attempts to replace SBInet with new initiatives, such as the Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan and the Southwest Border Technology Plan. However, they are also struggling.

Over the past two decades, the U.S. government has spent nearly $6 billion on surveillance towers and made efforts to consolidate the various systems into the Integrated Surveillance Towers network. However, there are challenges due to incompatible components and outdated technology.

A recurring issue with the surveillance towers is the absence of meaningful performance metrics to evaluate their effectiveness. In a 2017 report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) criticized the Border Patrol for failing to assess whether these technologies were improving security. The GAO urged the agency to develop performance metrics, but recent assessments suggest that little progress has been made.

In February 2023, the GAO noted that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials expect operational shortfalls of up to 36% by 2025, putting more towers at risk of becoming non-functional. Without clear benchmarks for success, it remains difficult to determine how much these expensive surveillance systems contribute to national security efforts.

The outages have frustrated Border Patrol agents, who rely on the cameras to monitor vast, remote regions. There are legitimate concerns about officer safety and border security due to non-operational towers.

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