To provide researchers with the tools they need to analyze the impact of U.S. border security policies, the EFF surveyed more than 290 watchtowers installed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the border with Mexico. We are publishing new maps and datasets. Compiled using public records, satellite imagery, road trips, and even exploration in virtual reality, EFF’s data serves as a living snapshot of a so-called “virtual wall,” from the coast of California to the bottom of Texas. To do. We have also included approximately 50 locations that CBP has suggested for the next round of towers, as well as Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs) located at Border Patrol checkpoints.

Click to launch interactive map. google’s privacy policy Applies.

Download the dataset here. Free to use and remix under EFF Creative Commons Attribution License.

Watchtowers along the border have a troubled history. In the mid-2000s, the Secure Border Initiative aimed to install “SBInet” towers along the border, but was only able to install a few dozen in Arizona before bipartisan protests. technical problem, price, delayand invalid brought is shutting downThroughout the 2010s, CBP made another attempt at tower-based systems, resulting in disparate tower systems such as Integrated Fixed Towers (IFT) and Remote Video Surveillance Systems (RVSS) that could not interact with different vendors. provided by a good vendor. Despite spending over $1 billion since 2005, Government Accountability Office signed in 2017CBP was “not yet in a position to fully quantify the impact of these technologies on its mission.”

Now, the CBP (and its subdivision, the U.S. Border Patrol) are planning an even bigger expansion of watchtowers on the U.S.-Mexico border. Called the “Integrated Surveillance Tower” (IST) or “Integrated Tower and Surveillance Equipment” (CTSE) program, CBP intent Put the RVSS and IFT systems under one program and begin upgrading 135 existing towers with the new system over the next 10 years. Features, Technologies, Sensors, is installing 307 new towers along its southern border. CBP is shown These towers will help close the surveillance gaps caused by the plan Conclusion of its tactical balloon program.

of tower system It automatically detects and tracks objects up to 7.5 miles away, depending on local requirements, and helps agents classify objects 3 miles away. Dozens more towers will be added on the Canadian border.in the meantime CBP is in progress Anduril Industries’ installation of 200 Autonomous Surveillance Towers (AST) controlled by artificial intelligence software. IST programIn the short term, CBP has allocated $204 million for this program. budget for 2023 and 2024, which cover We will deploy 74 ASTs by the end of FY2024 and 100 new towers by the end of FY2025.

A more detailed breakdown of CBP’s tower plans is available here.

As such, it’s important to document the towers that currently exist and keep track of them as the system grows. Our current map, while the most comprehensive available to the public, still shows only a portion of what has already been installed and what will be installed in the next few years.

This data enables many types of research, ranging from border policy to environmental impact. For example, the placement of towers undermines the myth that border surveillance only affects sparsely populated rural areas. Many current and planned targets are located in densely populated urban areas. Journalists traveling across the border are also required to locate the tower in order to document it and interview residents who live and work under constant surveillance. Border patrol researchers can use this data to independently assess whether the towers meet the goals set by CBP, such as deterring drug smuggling and human trafficking. Sam Chambers, a researcher at the University of Arizona, studying now Whether the placement of towers will force immigrants to take more dangerous routes across the desert.

“The data that EFF provides is an invaluable resource for researchers like me,” says Chambers. “This will allow us to document the real-world impact of the ‘virtual wall’ on undocumented border crossers. Compare its location and function to known border crosser mortality records.” It also allows us to more accurately estimate the increase in physiological damage caused by it.Using this resource, I extend my past work and use the otherwise ‘smart’ We hope to shed some light on the harm wrought by what are called “humane” alternatives.

About the tower

The map currently contains the three main tower styles implemented by CBP.

An integrated fixed tower in Cochise County, Arizona.

Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT)The structures are from vendor Elbit Systems of America, part of an Israeli company that has been criticized for its role in surveillance in Palestine. Elbit was previously a subcontractor for his failed SBInet project, building many new towers on the same site as his original SBInet towers. The IFT is found only in Arizona, with several controversial towers installed on tribal land owned by the Tohono O’odham nation. IFT is reported to be: detection people up to 7.5 miles away.

A remote video surveillance system in Nogales, Arizona.

remote video surveillance system (RVSS). Vendor General Dynamics, these structures are most common near border fences, but not exclusively. The upper platform contains his two sensor rigs, typically with electro-optic and infrared cameras, as well as a laser illuminator. Monopole versions of RVSS can be found throughout the Southwest, but a new model, the “Relocatable RVSS” (R-RVSS), is being installed throughout the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. RVSS reportedly detection people up to 7.5 miles awaybut the range may vary according to specific local requirements.

An autonomous watchtower in Imperial County, California.

Autonomous Watchtower (AST). these are “guard“The tower is made by Anduril Industries, founded by Oculus creator Palmer Luckey. According to CBP, AST “scans the environment with radar to detect Point the camera at a location and analyze the image using: In July 2020, CBP announced he plans to acquire 200 towers by the end of fiscal year 2022. This is him a deal worth $250 million. These towers are concentrated in Southern California, with patches in the Big Bend, Laredo, and Del Rio Border Patrol sectors of southern New Mexico and Texas. have not yet appeared, so we have only documented a small fraction of these facilities. AST can detect people up to 1.7 miles away and vehicles up to 2.2 miles away. Company materials.

The map also includes rare and novel watchtowers, such as the new Elbit Tower installed above. Cochise County Community College Campus Towers installed on properties with Warren Buffett’s son’s ranchboth near Douglas, Arizona. Another Anduril Tower Located 30 miles north of the San Diego border, the cliffs near Del Mar Dog Beach overlook the Pacific Ocean. We also included towers installed at inland border checkpoints and a number of towers whose model could not be finally identified.

We will continue to update and add data as we document new towers and technology. If you know of a tower that is not on the map or has moved, please email us. aos@eff.org.

Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR). We also mapped 39 Border Patrol checkpoints with ALPR systems installed by either CBP or the Drug Enforcement Administration. These cameras collect the license plates of passing vehicles, attach timestamps and GPS coordinates, and upload the data to a searchable database.Data is stored for the following purposes 15 years— much longer than any state or local law enforcement retention period. His ALPR vendor at CBP, Perceptics, Violated In 2019, 105,000 license plate images were leaked.A year later, the Government Accountability Office Conclusion Only about half of the border crossings were using the ALPR system as intended in their system for documenting the results of secondary vehicle inspections.

Method

The number of journalists traveling to our borders to report directly on surveillance technology has increased in recent years. But the reporter said he often had to rely on CBP and Border Patrol to provide access to these towers, or rely on locals who knew the locations of a few towers. When the EFF began visiting the border in his 2022, it became clear that maps were needed so that people could independently visit and inspect the surveillance infrastructure.

We started with procurement documents sam government, where CBP disclosed the approved locations for a series of new towers.Working my way back from there, I was able to find additional locations mentioned in previous purchase records. environmental assessment Published by CBP online, it often includes GPS coordinates, maps, and verbal descriptions of proposed towers. Using this data, we scrutinized Google Maps satellite views, Bing Maps aerial photos, and Google Street View to see if the tower was in place.

We also used a virtual reality app to locate the tower. wandering, essentially an immersive version of Google Street View, using the Meta Quest 2 headset. Just search for towers by stopping at various locations along the border. In many cases, the Mexican side provided the technology installed along the walls more clearly and closer. The app also allowed us to scan the landscape using his Google satellite map of the size of a movie theater screen. This also allowed us to slowly pass through border crossings and identify watchtowers and automatic license plate readers.

Finally, we visited the border directly to discover some pagodas. For example, New He identified the Anduril Tower in southern Mexico, which had not previously been described in public records or captured in publicly available satellite imagery. Detailed photos released to the public commons Wikimedia.

You can watch a short presentation on the Mapping USA 2022 conference methodology. here.

Michael Rubio, a student at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, assisted in visual inspection of the watchtower. EFF staffers Haley Pederson and Christian Romero also helped locate the tower.