Immigration and the border are two themes regularly favored by the Republican Party to attract voters next November, during the American presidential election. But did you know that the border between Mexico and the United States is monitored by artificial intelligence?
4 mins
From our correspondent in Houston,
One year ago, in April 2023, Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of State for Homeland Security UNITED STATES created a special team in charge of artificial intelligence. “ We seek to deploy AI to better control shipments, identify goods produced by forced labor and manage risks. We will see how to use this technology to better detect transport of the drug fentanyl “, he declared then. In particular, AI calculates weight and mass based on what is declared and detects anomalies in truck cargo. But not only that.
This technology is also used to identify movements detected by automatic cameras on surveillance towers. It analyzes whether these movements are wild animals, livestock, border guard vehicles or unusual or recurring movements of vehicles, which may be migrants trying to enter the United States discreetly, or their smugglers.
But these new surveillance tools do not make the inhabitants of the region, nor the owners of border land, comfortable. Mariana Trevino Wright directs the National Butterfly Center located in Mission, outside McCallen. It is a center that has land that borders the Rio Grande. “ I went into the control room of the Border Guard stationed in McAllen, where the agents work with the cameras in these towers and the other technology there. These cameras observe 360°, day and night. They have sensors that analyze movements over a radius of ten kilometers. The towers are on the border. They can easily see what is happening in Mexico », notes Mariana Trevino Wright.
At least 300 such surveillance towers
These new automatic towers are powered by solar panels, which guarantees their autonomy. They are most often located on private land or Indian reservations, where there are few border agents. It exists at least 300 monitoring towers of this type, which extend from the Californian coast to the tip of Texas, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation organization which identified them. But for the Secretary of State, Alejandro Mayorkas, their use will remain balanced and thoughtful. “ Our department will use artificial intelligence to responsibly secure our homeland. At the same time, we will ensure that the use of AI is rigorously tested to prevent bias and discriminatory impacts. We will also ensure that this usage is easily understandable for our fellow citizens. », notes the Secretary of State.
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According to their manufacturers, these towers can be programmed not to record movements in Mexico, nor analyze what is happening in private homes. But hikers and border residents aren’t convinced their lives aren’t being recorded. “ You are completely monitored, recorded and analyzed. There is a digital mesh all along the border, which records the IP addresses of the phones or computers you have with you. The Border Patrol admitted to having already deployed and used this technology against American citizens during protests, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. And it happens every day at the border !», assures Mariana Trevino Wright.
Robot dogs capable of checking anomalies
Robot dogs are the latest step in automating border surveillance. Capable of verifying anomalies detected by artificial intelligence, they will be able to transmit location data or videos, in parallel with drones already flown by federal agents. “ The authorities are never going to eliminate human patrols, but robot dogs are not science fiction. They have been developed. And the government is seeking to deploy them. Their impact will be the same as that of the dogs used by white militiamen who searched for runaway slaves or considered rebels in the United States. And these militias were disbanded only 150 years ago », continues Mariana Trevino Wright
In 2022, the Mexican president signed an agreement with the White House to invest 1.5 billion in these border technologies.
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