DHS Expands Border Surveillance With Smart Wall Technology

The Department of Homeland Security is deploying a layered “smart wall” of autonomous towers, aerostats, sensors and AI-enabled tools along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S.–Mexico border, the Marshall Project reports. Reporting shows ICE is using facial recognition tools like Mobile Fortify inland, while DHS treats detection-only systems as non–rights-impacting despite civil‑liberties groups’ privacy concerns. The government is also seeking leases for bollard construction in Big Bend amid a 50-year low in border crossings.