{"id":7366,"date":"2019-02-10T12:02:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-10T12:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/donald-trumps-wall-how-tech-guards-the-us-mexico-border\/"},"modified":"2019-02-10T12:02:09","modified_gmt":"2019-02-10T12:02:09","slug":"donald-trumps-wall-how-tech-guards-the-us-mexico-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/donald-trumps-wall-how-tech-guards-the-us-mexico-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump’s wall: How tech guards the US-Mexico border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Media caption<\/span>WATCH: Nick Kwek toured the border dividing the US state of Arizona and Mexico’s Sonora<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“We gotta get outta here!” cries Agent Daniel Hernandez of US Border Patrol.<\/p>\n

Moments earlier a hurled rock from over the fence whacked the tin roof next to us with an almighty thud. Its target: Agent Hernandez, my camerawoman and yours truly.<\/p>\n

“You gotta limit your exposure when you’re there by the International Fence, you know,” says Agent Hernandez, once we’re safely back in his truck.<\/p>\n

I do now.<\/p>\n

We are in southern Arizona at the Nogales Border Crossing checkpoint.<\/p>\n

While President Trump demands a wall costing several billions of dollars, and the Democrats suggest technology would be better suited to the job, we are being given a whistle-stop tour of some of the tech already in use within Arizona’s Tucson Sector.<\/p>\n

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As we ride around, Agent Hernandez tells me his Southwest Border sector has 262 miles (422km) of border fencing with Mexico, but thousands of miles of patrol area.<\/p>\n

Recently his team enhanced its surveillance abilities by upgrading their Integrated Fixed Towers, also known as IFTs – almost everything is abbreviated by US government employees.<\/p>\n

The structures are up to 180ft (55m) tall and are laden with sensors at their top.<\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n The IFTs are used to detect, identify and track illegal border crossings
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The update means they are now equipped with longer-range video cameras, better thermal imaging cameras, and radar to provide 24\/7 high altitude points of view for officers back at the Nogales Control Center.<\/p>\n

“Before we’d see some pixellation,” Agent Hernandez explains.<\/p>\n

“The cameras, due to their remote placements, were difficult to focus from far away, but now we have really high resolution, crisp images.” <\/p>\n

He goes on: “We’re able to identify things that come over the fence, people that come over the fence, contraband that comes over the fence, a lot quicker and at greater distances.”<\/p>\n

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\n The Tucson Sector is one of the busiest parts of the US’s south-west border
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Agent Hernandez slows the car to a stop, leaning forward in his seat and peers out into the hills.<\/p>\n

“I believe there’s one person under that tree. He’s a human smuggler scout,” he declares.<\/p>\n

He points at the man dressed in brown clothing and a hat, sitting a few yards beyond the fence.<\/p>\n

Agent Hernandez may be hawk-eyed, but come nightfall a scout like this would be tricky to see, even for him. The IFTs though apparently help his team catch camouflaged crossers.<\/p>\n

“We might not see them, but our thermal cameras allow us to see. Our tech helps us stay one step above the criminal element.”<\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n There are gaps in the border fence to help minimise erosion caused by water and debris during flash floods
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We travel down the winding road to Mariposa Wash, an area where there is a 1m gap between the fence’s bottom and the ground.<\/p>\n

The gap is there to prevent erosion from water, but it means a person could easily duck underneath. <\/p>\n

“We don’t want people thinking this is the only thing keeping America safe,” comments Agent Hernandez, patting the suspended barrier.<\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n Handprints had been left on the fence from people trying to climb over it
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“We have fencing as a tool – but this is by no means meant to keep people in or out.”<\/p>\n

A few minutes up the road and the steel fencing stops, only to be replaced by sticks, cattle wire and Normandy-style barriers.<\/p>\n

It looks very makeshift, but this style of vehicle fencing stretches out across a large portion of Arizona’s border with Mexico.<\/p>\n

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\n The border divide looks very make-do in parts
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Instead of fencing, border agents have a range of other tools in their arsenal.<\/p>\n

I am told sensors are buried in the ground around the area, which trigger an alarm if someone or something big enough passes nearby.<\/p>\n

Mobile Surveillance Trucks are also in use where there is uneven terrain and the towers cannot be built.<\/p>\n

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\n Camera-equipped vans are used to patrol the area
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They are equipped with the same technology as the IFTs, but have thermal rangefinders that enable remote operators to measure the distance between themselves and people crossing.<\/p>\n

They also have laser pointers to direct agents in the field to hidden targets at night.<\/p>\n

From the truck’s extendable mast, they can shine a beam of light on to a suspect so agents wearing night-vision goggles can physically find them.<\/p>\n

US Customs and Border Protection has also begun testing drones equipped with infrared and facial recognition cameras to monitor the land from above.<\/p>\n

Agent Hernandez tells me his team is currently trialling an Android-based location-tracking app, so agents can keep tabs of each others’ whereabouts in real-time.<\/p>\n

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\n More than 4,000 border patrol agents cover the Tucson Sector
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In 2017, Agent Hernandez’s team arrested 40,000 people attempting to cross illegally into the United States.<\/p>\n

But of course it’s not always criminals that get caught in the net. <\/p>\n

The recent migrant caravans – in which hundreds of people travel together – have highlighted how many families are willing to undertake a perilous journey in hope of a better life in the States. <\/p>\n

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Image caption<\/span>
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\n The BBC’s Nick Kwek with Agent Hernandez
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Many families have been separated at the border, and two children have died since being detained by authorities.<\/p>\n

For Agent Hernandez, he says he’s just doing his job.<\/p>\n

“No matter what side of the spectrum you fall on, border security is important for the entire country” he says.<\/p>\n

“We’re law enforcement officers, we don’t dictate the laws, we enforce the laws. <\/p>\n

“The best way to enforce the laws is by doing it in most effective and efficient way, and technology allows us to do that.” <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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