Why This Matters
Hundreds of millions in federal funding has been allocated toward CBP’s expanding surveillance network, but its effectiveness and impact on residents are raising questions.
Immigration authorities will be allowed to continue operating a surveillance tower from a public park in a California border town after the Calexico City Council renewed a nearly two-decade lease with U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week.
The contentious and at times bitter meeting on Wednesday ended in a 2-1 vote in favor of the lease, ultimately shutting down pleas from community organizers to inquire further into the data the tower collects on residents and limit how that data can be used.
Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, currently operates the tower from a 400-square-foot plot of land at Nosotros Park, an outdoor space in west Calexico where residents walk in the morning and families play in the evening. The camera system can detect and record miles into the distance using infrared and high-resolution zoom cameras, a spotlight and laser illuminator.
It’s one of hundreds of towers along the U.S.-Mexico border used to intercept people who cross into the U.S. without legal permission. Though the system can also collect information beyond that scope, including, for example, “an individual entering a doctor’s office, attending public rallies, social events or meetings, or associating with other individuals,” according to CBP border surveillance documents.
CBP also plans to expand its use artificial intelligence broadly across a network of surveillance tools along the border to autonomously detect, track and deploy agents when people enter the U.S. from Mexico between ports of entry.
inewsource talked to several privacy experts and border researchers who said surveillance technology comes at a huge cost to both migrants and the communities on the border where surveillance is most concentrated.
Those costs include deaths among migrants who take more dangerous journeys into the U.S. to avoid detection and mass data collection of U.S. residents with little restriction on how governments can use it, they said.
A CBP spokesperson said the agency is “committed to protecting individuals’ privacy, civil rights, and civil liberties.”
“CBP has a robust directive on privacy policy, compliance, and implementation in place for use when engaged in activities that may impact the privacy of individuals and will continue to ensure all technologies are deployed in compliance with applicable laws and policies,” the spokesperson said in an email.
Dozens of residents, some of whom regularly speak at the council meetings and which included fire personnel, the Calexico police chief, business owners and political organizers, were in attendance Wednesday evening.
Addressing calls to delay the vote on the surveillance tower lease amid questions of privacy and data collection, council member Javier Moreno said the concerns should be taken to CBP or Border Patrol, the agency’s counterpart.
“Why would people complain to us? We just gave a lease. We have no responsibility over what they do,” said Moreno, who voted to approve the lease along with Council Member Camilo Garcia.
“I appreciate the comments but I think you should go somewhere else and complain (about) that,” he said later.
Then-Mayor Gloria Romo voted not to approve the item, telling inewsource over email that the community needed additional time to consider the lease.
Most who spoke about the surveillance tower at the meeting said they supported Border Patrol and its operations at Nosotros Park.
“We have always been friendly with the Border Patrol and Customs, and they are always there as a support group for the community,” said Jesus Solano, a Calexico resident. “We owe it to them.”
Though operated by federal authorities, the camera is an essential tool for the understaffed local police department, supporters of the tower said. One young woman said she was thankful for Border Patrol, who helped investigate the killing of her cousin in 2021.
“Everybody’s so concerned about privacy, but we’re all honorable citizens. What do we have to hide?” she said.
The tension from the recent political ouster of two council members through a recall last month was palpable in the crowd at Calexico City Hall, highlighting the deep divisions among residents in a city struggling with poverty, homelessness and crime.
Maritza Hurtado, leader of the recall effort and a former council member herself, said removing the tower would send the wrong message about Calexico.
“All you’re doing is making sure to let the world know that you desire a weak police department,” she said.
Hutardo said the recall effort was grounded in opposition to council members Gilberto Manzanarez’s and Raul Ureña’s progressive policies, and she blamed them for crime in the city’s downtown. Critics of the recall, however, say it was in part fueled by transphobia targeting Ureña, who is transgender.
Organizers from Imperial Valley Equity & Justice Coalition read a letter the group and others sent to the council members the previous day, urging them to delay the vote in order to allow more time for residents to consider the risks of surveillance and artificial intelligence.
“The biggest investment in a public park should be in the community and the childhood development, not military-grade surveillance technology,” one organizer said.
Another resident, Joong Kim said he agrees that “border security is very important” but said the council should consider lease terms that protect the public from unwarranted monitoring by immigration authorities.
“At least you can put it there as conditions to make sure (the tower is) not invading our public’s own privacy,” Kim said.
Ureña also spoke at the meeting, citing inewsource’s reporting, which included a comment from a west Calexico resident who said he was never informed on the surveillance tower before the original lease was established in 2000s.
“It’s not enough to say we believe in transparency. We must act upon it on all issues,” Ureña said, pushing the council to delay the vote until more community members could be informed.
Ureña also said the council should explore how to allow surveillance technology while considering the privacy concerns of residents.
“You can have your cake and eat it, too,” Ureña said.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
