Roundtables: The Deadly Failures of The Virtual Border Wall

Skip to ContentWatch a subscriber-only conversation examining the failures of border surveillance technology. Available only for MIT Technology Review subscribers. The US has spent billions building a “virtual wall” of surveillance towers along its southern border over the past 25 years, promising they will help detect and apprehend border crossers and save lives. But a groundbreaking investigation by MIT Technology Review has documented over a thousand people who moved through areas watched by these towers without being reached or apprehended, and who ultimately died there. Some were even under the watch of newly installed AI-powered towers designed to spot people automatically. Our findings reveal a humanitarian crisis more visible than previously known, and repeated failures of the virtual wall’s basic security promise. Join MIT Technology Review editors and reporters for a conversation examining the failures of border surveillance technology and uncovering the stories of the people who die in the borderlands. Deep DiveArtificial intelligenceStay connectedIllustration by Rose WongGet the latest updates fromMIT Technology ReviewDiscover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.