The Download: investigating deaths at the US border’s “virtual wall”
This is today’s edition of The Download, our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what’s going on in the world of technology. The US spent billions on border surveillance. Why can’t it catch people before they die? When José Morales Bernal crossed the border into the US in April 2024, the day before…
The US government spent billions on border surveillance technology, known as the "virtual wall." Despite this investment, the system failed to prevent José Morales Bernal's death in April 2024. Morales crossed the border into the US just one day before his 32nd birthday, within range of three surveillance towers equipped with cameras and AI to detect and track people.
However, he died just 360 feet from the closest tower, having succumbed to "environmental exposure." An investigation by MIT Technology Review found that similar deaths are common, with nearly 4,000 locations mapped where human remains were discovered near surveillance towers. The government is about to spend another $1 billion to triple the virtual wall's size, but it has systemic flaws, including broken towers, algorithms that fail to detect people, and agents who do not respond to alerts.
Written by urgent.news from MIT Technology Review's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
