Surveillance

Homeland Security Is Spending $1 Billion on 'Autonomous' Border Surveillance Towers

The department plans to triple the number of surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border over the next decade.

C.J. Ciaramella | 7.30.2026 10:07 AM

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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) plans to nearly triple the number of surveillance towers along U.S. borders over the next decade, according to a federal audit.

An annual Government Accountability Office (GAO) assessment released this month on the DHS' acquisition oversight and risk management reported that the DHS plans to increase its "Integrated Surveillance Towers Program" from the 830 current towers to 2,300 by the year 2034.

In addition to more funding for construction of a physical border wall, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBA), signed into law by President Donald Trump on July 4, 2025, included over $6 billion for border surveillance technology. Around $1 billion of that will be spent deploying "autonomous" surveillance towers that use artificial intelligence (AI), the GAO report said.

"It's a smart wall. It's not just a barrier," Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Rodney Scott said during recent congressional testimony. "It maximizes the use of our most valuable resource, which is our agents."

However, civil rights groups and privacy........

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