Roughly one-third of the surveillance cameras along the U.S.-Mexico border are out of order, and posing a "significant impact" on the Border Patrol's operations, the agency said in an internal memo.
The outage is affecting about 150 of the 500 remote video surveillance systems cameras that have been mounted on towers along the southern border, according to a Border Patrol memo to agents, reported NBC News Tuesday after obtaining the document.
"Several technical problems," are going on with the cameras, and officials speaking on the condition of anonymity said that outdated equipment and repairs that remain outstanding are to blame.
The camera system has been used since 2011 so that large areas can be surveyed without having to commit hundreds of agents, but the internal memo said that 30% of the cameras are out of play and that it is not clear how long they've been down.
Some of the cameras were repaired this month, two Customs and Border Protection officials said, but there are 150 outstanding requests remaining.
The internal memo blames the Federal Aviation Administration, which services the system and repairs cameras, for the problem.
The memo explained that the FAA has some internal problems that are keeping it from meeting the Border Patrol's needs and that leaders are considering replacing the FAA with another contractor who can provide "adequate technical support."
The FAA, which did not return NBC's request for comment, plans to send workers to the southern border to repair the cameras, the Border Patrol said.
Meanwhile, a CBP spokesperson said its agency has also installed about 300 new towers that use newer, more advanced technology that "embraces artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace outdated systems, reducing the need to have agents working non-interdiction functions."
Last week, the Border Patrol union in Laredo, Texas, told its members on Facebook that it shares their concerns that the cameras "are causing serious officer safety and border security concerns."
"We hope this issue is resolved soon as the problem has been ongoing for quite some time," the union added. "The American taxpayer has made significant investments in technology along the border, and they expect that this technology is operational."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.