미 하원의원, 국경 감시탑 프로그램 폐지 법안 발의

Delia Ramirez, a Democratic US representative from Illinois, has announced a plan to introduce new legislation to terminate the surveillance tower program along the US southern border. The announcement comes just days after publication of an MIT Technology Review investigation, “Dying on Camera,” in which we looked at deaths along the border that took place close to one or more of these towers. MIT Technology Review found that nearly one in four deaths we analyzed between 2015 and early 2026 occurred within their advertised range. We also showed that the Department of Homeland Security does not keep track of these deaths or other metrics on the towers’ success or failure. Ramirez, who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, cited MIT Technology Review ’s reporting that nearly “1,100 people have died within range of a billion-dollar surveillance tower system between 2015 and 2026,” adding, “The towers that we have paid a billion dollars to just don’t work.” The legislation, the Reimagining Safety Act, was developed in consultation with community groups and local and state representatives. The advocacy organizations Just Futures Law, which focuses on immigrant rights and racial justice, and Mijente, which describes itself as a “vehicle for building independent Latinx political power,” helped shape the calls to terminate the border towers program, following a joint report they put out earlier this year on the technology used by ICE. The legislation is intended to be part of a broader proposal to replace the Department of Homeland Security with a new Department of Community Safety while moving CISA, FEMA, TSA, and customs functions to other existing federal agencies. Her office has yet to release the text of the proposed legislation, saying that it will come in the next few weeks. There has been growing public support for abolishing ICE in the wake of the second Trump administration’s highly visible enforcement operations across American cities, the buildout of its detention apparatus, and shootings by ICE and CBP agents. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a delivery driver, was shot in the back by an ICE agent just last weekend in Austin, Texas. But for Ramirez, abolishing just ICE is not enough. At a press conference held in Chicago on Wednesday, Ramirez said, ““There’s no question that DHS has to be dismantled. We need to provide them a road map in how we do it,” Ramirez said. It will not be the first time that a bill to dismantle the Department of Homeland Security has been introduced, but previous proposals have not gone very far. This proposal will also face a steep uphill battle in Congress, where even some Democrats favor reforming rather than outright dismantling the organization. Ramirez, however, sits on both the House committee that oversees the department, and is the ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee’s cybersecurity subcommittee. “We're limiting state surveillance, we're reigning unlawful abuses of data and curbing the militarized enforcement. We're beginning the process of establishing a separate civil immigration system," Ramirez said. DHS and CBP did not offer an immediate response for comment. Keep Reading Most Popular A fundamental flaw leaves LLMs strikingly vulnerable to attack It makes it easy to trick them into doing things they shouldn’t, such as telling you how to sabotage an aircraft’s navigation system. By Will Douglas Heaven archive page AI’s recursive self-improvement might not come so quickly after all AI agents are not yet creative enough to carry out genuinely innovative open-ended AI research, it seems. By Michelle Kim archive page Here’s why AI agents lie and cheat to reach their goals The misbehavior is called reward hacking. This is what you need to know. By Grace Huckins archive page These startups are chasing the next big thing in LLMs Meet the new kids nipping at the heels of the AI giants. By Will Douglas Heaven archive page Stay connected Illustration by Rose Wong Get the latest updates from MIT Technology Review Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more. Enter your email Privacy Policy Thank you for submitting your email! Explore more newsletters It looks like something went wrong. We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.