The U.S. southern border is a disaster right now. It can all be thanks to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’s awful immigration policies.
And a shocking new development emerges from the Biden/Harris southern border crisis.
Broken Cameras Along Southern Border Raise Concerns Over Unreported Migrant Crossings
Nearly 30% of the security cameras monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border are currently out of order, raising fears that the actual number of migrant “gotaways” — those who evade capture — may be far higher than official reports suggest.
According to a recent report by NBC News, around 150 of the 500 cameras in use are malfunctioning due to “several technical problems.” The news comes from an internal Border Patrol memo that highlights the challenges agents face as a result of the broken equipment.
“This nationwide issue is having significant impacts on [Border Patrol] operations,” the memo states, emphasizing how the outage is affecting day-to-day border
Since 2011, the federal government has relied on the cameras, which are part of the Remote Video Surveillance Systems, to monitor vast stretches of the border. These systems help reduce the need for hundreds of agents to patrol the area in person.
However, with a significant portion of the cameras offline, Border Patrol agents are now unable to monitor large parts of the border effectively.
A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) source told the New York Post that agents depend on these cameras to track and document migrants who manage to slip past border defenses — the so-called “gotaways.”
The source expressed concern, saying the true number of gotaways is likely “way more than reported” because the disabled cameras mean agents are missing critical footage.
Under the Biden-Harris administration, over 1.7 million gotaways have been recorded crossing into the U.S. illegally. However, as one CBP source noted, “no one knows the true number.”
“We are missing a bunch of traffic we should be detecting. Who knows what’s getting by,” added another source within the agency.
NBC reported that the camera failures are mainly due to old equipment and unresolved repair issues.
Additionally, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is responsible for maintaining the surveillance systems, has struggled to keep up with the necessary repairs. To address the issue, the agency is reportedly seeking a contractor to take over repair responsibilities.
The problem has not gone unnoticed by those on the ground. A chapter of the Border Patrol union in Laredo, Texas, recently raised alarms over the impact of the broken cameras on both border security and officer safety.
In a statement, the union said, “We hope this issue is resolved soon as the problem has been ongoing for quite some time!” They emphasized that American taxpayers have invested heavily in border technology and expect it to function properly.
While some repairs have already been completed, around 150 camera repair requests are still pending. In the meantime, CBP has been working to install roughly 300 new camera towers equipped with advanced technology, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, to replace the aging systems.
A CBP spokesperson highlighted the agency’s efforts, saying, “CBP continues to install newer, more advanced technology that embraces artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace outdated systems, reducing the need to have agents working non-interdiction functions.”
The hope is that these new towers will bolster the Border Patrol’s ability to monitor the southern border effectively, but until the broken cameras are fully repaired, the fear remains that many migrants are slipping through unnoticed.
Stay tuned to Prudent Politics.
