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In February, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed they were testing "robot dogs"—more aptly described as four-legged ground drones—for deployment to the U.S.-Mexico border. Gavin Kenneally, co-founder and chief operating officer of Ghost Robotics, the developer of the technology, has taken to downplaying concerns around the presumably lucrative partnership with the nation's largest and least accountable law enforcement agency.
Developing, selling and deploying robot dogs on the border ignores decades of wasteful spending on border technology and advances failed border policies that undermine privacy rights of border residents. The Biden administration must unequivocally reject the proliferation of surveillance technologies across border communities. And tech developers should understand the harm they cause when capitalizing on the border-industrial-complex and abandon their alliance with immigration agencies.
The border region includes some of the most surveilled communities in the nation. CBP already deploys a wide range of technologies—facial recognition, automatic license plate readers, aerial drones, cell phone location data and more—creating an unacceptable dragnet system of information collection on everyday citizens and residents.
CBP has a long record of wasting millions in taxpayer dollars on ineffective technology. Congress allocated CBP $780 million for technology and surveillance in 2021 alone, raising the total allocation since 2017 to over $1.5 billion. Moreover, CBP spent a staggering $1 billion on its last failed attempt to create a "virtual border fence." Over a four year period the agency spent $255 million on its aerial drone program, which accounted for just 0.5 percent of border apprehensions at a cost of $32,000 per arrest. Ghost Robotics' drones reportedly cost $150,000 each without any "add-ons." A contract with CBP would likely quickly reach millions of dollars.
Border technology also has deadly consequences. Surveillance towers and other technology pitched as deterrent efforts to limit border crossings have led to the death of thousands of migrants, as they are knowingly pushed into more deadly crossing zones. In 2021, Border Patrol recorded a record high 557 migrant deaths. In just one tragic weekend in November, a 4-year-old boy and 17-day-old infant died in a remote area near McAllen, Texas. Walking drones would certainly further this troubling trend, while, like past deterrence efforts, doing little to achieve the government's goal of limiting border crossings.
New technology is frequently piloted at the border, quietly normalizing invasive surveillance under the guise of "security" that threatens to creep into nationwide police tactics. One study found 230 instances of local law enforcement using advanced technologies in border communities; and, in 2020, CBP itself deployed its assets to surveil nationwide protests over the killing of George Floyd.
The developers of these robots understand the border as a place to use controversial surveillance technology that garnered public outrage elsewhere. In 2021, backlash after the New York Police Department first deployed the "digidogs" forced the department to return the drones and abandon the program. In 2022, they appeared at the border.
These robot dogs could someday be armed, which raises deep concerns about potential constitutional rights violations and loss of life. Ghost Robotics' Kenneally claimed they are not weaponizing their robot dogs—that such a decision is left up to the government. But he's given us no reason to believe him. His company has already attached a gun to its robot dog platform. Other tech companies have pitched attaching tasers to aerial drones to be deployed against migrants and police departments have already killed with a ground robot.
Regardless of their currently envisioned use, concerns over deployment of such technology under CBP's control are exacerbated by the agency's long history of abuse and impunity. At least 213 people have died as a result of encounters with CBP since 2010, including children and U.S. citizens. No agent has ever been convicted of criminal wrongdoing while on duty, despite deaths in custody and uses of excessive, deadly force. Meanwhile, the agency's accountability and disciplinary systems are broken and any effective oversight is trampled by its complete lack of transparency.
Xenophobic fear-mongering that labels innocent families as security threats must not be allowed to justify the entrenchment of technologies that threaten to further degrade constitutionally-protected privacy rights just because we're in the border region. Border communities, immigrants and ultimately everyone, deserves better.
Shaw Drake (@ShawDrake1) is a staff attorney and policy counsel on border and immigrants' rights at the ACLU of Texas.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
