The US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die?

The article examines the U.S. “virtual wall”—autonomous surveillance towers using AI—and why billions in spending have not prevented deaths near the border. Anduril, a contractor, said in response to questions that once a tower is delivered it is operated by CBP, and it directed questions about specific incidents to the agency. It said an incident occurring nearby does not mean the tower missed a detection, and that actual surveillance ranges vary by terrain, physical obstructions, and virtual boundaries CBP sets for where a tower should look—boundaries CBP can use for privacy and other reasons. Anduril also alleged inaccuracies in the reporting but did not answer follow-up questions about what was inaccurate.

The most pressing question in any death near the virtual wall is whether authorities knew someone was there and failed to reach them, or were not aware anyone was crossing at all; either outcome is a system failure. The deaths identified capture only failures that left a trace, leaving unknown how many people pass through undetected or how many bodies remain undiscovered. Interviews with more than 45 people—including current and former White House advisors and presidential appointees, Border Patrol agents, medical examiners, sheriffs, humanitarian volunteers, and tech company employees—showed both types of failures are occurring: technology failing to detect and agents failing to respond. Together, they illustrate the limits of applying technology to a complex problem.

The findings reveal previously unreported issues with the virtual wall even as it retains broad political support and federal spending surges. Border security hardliners have long viewed the towers as another tool to stop smugglers moving drugs or people, while others promote them as a cheaper alternative to a physical wall. In 2023, the government estimated its plans for the towers—which now number 803—would cost $6.2 billion over their lifespan. With historic funding awarded in 2025, CBP plans to spend $1 billion for 1,497 more towers by 2034.

But the reporting shows CBP has done little to assess how its towers are working or how many people have died where they keep watch. Officials who oversaw border security across the last four presidential administrations told the reporters they believed deaths near the so-called virtual wall were either exceedingly rare or nonexistent; the reporting shows that is not the case. None could point to any comparable analysis the government had ever conducted on its own. Former agents and officials also said that when a body is found, CBP does not formally investigate whether surveillance should have detected the person or, if they were detected, why agents did not reach them before they died.

In response to nearly 30 questions about the findings, which covered multiple generations of technology, Hilton Beckham, CBP’s assistant commissioner for public affairs, said, “Autonomous surveillance towers use artificial intelligence”—the excerpt cuts off at that point.