MANY MINDEDUS plans to nearly triple its border surveillance towers by 2034
According to a Government Accountability Office report, the Department of Homeland Security plans to expand its network of border surveillance towers from 830 to 2,300 by 2034, spending more than $1 billion. The towers are part of Customs and Border Protection's Integrated Surveillance Tower program, which combines autonomous towers using AI-driven radar, thermal infrared and optical sensors with integrated fixed towers and remote video surveillance systems. The funding comes from the One Big Beautiful Act, a tax and spending law signed in 2025.
The expansion includes buying more long-range autonomous towers and upgrading existing ones with autonomous capabilities. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, which has mapped border surveillance technology since 2022 using public records, open-source intelligence and field visits, notes that some remote video systems in Arizona sit near the border fence and can view homes on both sides — sweeping in residents, not just crossings.
This is a friction signal for the commons and for security understood as freedom from unwanted watching. A permanent, AI-enabled sensor grid changes what surveillance-free daily life looks like for people who live near the border. Capability built for one stated purpose tends to persist and broaden, and towers that can see into private homes gate privacy rather than expand safety.
The figures and plans come from the GAO report, and EFF presents its own critical framing of the buildout. Worth watching is how much of the planned network is actually funded and deployed by 2034, and what oversight, if any, governs where the towers point.
Source: EFF Deeplinks