Border agents are battling illegal immigration hotspots along the U.S.-Mexico border where cameras have been out of action for up to a year, Newsweek can reveal.
An investigation by Newsweek also reveals that immigration authorities have suggested much of the border's camera network, intended to alert law enforcement officers to illegal crossings, is obsolete and no longer fit for purpose.
One border agent said that the problem has become a "big nationwide issue" as cartels exploit weak points to smuggle undocumented migrants into the country.
Republicans have said the failures are evidence of "wide-open border policies" from the Harris-Biden administration that are fueling human trafficking. The Harris campaign has not responded to Newsweek's requests for comment.
It comes as former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris battle to convince voters in November's presidential election that they can tackle the problems posed by the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a recent Gallup poll, 42 percent of respondents described the situation as a "crisis", while 35 percent saw it as a "major problem". The same survey revealed bipartisan support, at 55 percent of Americans, for a reduction in immigration—the highest figure since 2001.
Marco Rubio, the Republican Senator for Florida, claimed that Newsweek's findings were evidence of the Biden-Harris administrations failure.
"From day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has ignored our immigration laws and allowed criminals to flood into our communities. Reports of gaps in our surveillance should surprise no one while this administration remains in control," he said.
What's Happening at the US-Mexico Border?
Newsweek has been told that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is increasingly having to give chase to people smugglers who have managed to cross the border while the cameras are down.
Hector Garza, vice president of the National Border Patrol Council, said: "This has been a severe problem for at least the last 8 months...we did not realize how severe it was. At first we thought that it was a problem in the Laredo sector, but came to find out that this is a big nationwide issue."
A GOP-led committee told Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a letter Wednesday that whistleblowers had raised concerns that "some of the busiest Southwest border sectors have nearly 50 or more cameras offline with multiple towers that have been out of service."
A CBP spokesperson acknowledged that the Remote Video Surveillance Systems used along the border are outdated, requiring significant maintenance and upgrades after more than 15 years of use. The systems, which the agency is working to replace, are also expensive to operate because they require manpower to monitor the images.
Garza said that there has been a spike in police pursuits linked to human smuggling in the Laredo sector on the Texas-Mexico border.
He said that blind spots on the border are "hotbeds for smuggling activity" and that agents have now "lost the element of surprise to arrest some of these illegal border crossers."
"The camera towers along the border are one of our best assets that we have to be able to know what is coming across the border and to be able to better place agents in different areas," he added.
"The smugglers will exploit the area and will conduct more illegal activity in those parts of the border. And our agents are now placed at more serious risk because of the surveillance not being available."
He said that "many of these cameras are in areas that are very active" with organized crime syndicates.
Border Patrol Cameras Are Outdated and Faulty
It comes after reports emerged that almost 30 percent of security cameras were not in operation, with around 150 of the 500 surveillance cameras installed on towers along the U.S.-Mexico border affected by the outage.
"There's been a few cameras that have actually been fixed," Garza said.
"Our understanding is that the contractor that is responsible for maintaining these cameras does not have the sufficient resources to be able to service these cameras along the border. Many of these cameras are not being repaired timely, and that's what's causing many problems to be inoperable along the US-Mexico border."
Newsweek has reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which is responsible for maintaining the cameras.
Immigration remains one of the key factors that will decide how Americans vote in November's election. Analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Pew Research Center this month revealed that 96 percent of Donald Trump supporters and 80 percent of likely Kamala Harris voters are in favor of tightening security measures on the U.S.-Mexico border.
The CBP spokesperson told Newsweek: "CBP utilizes a multilayered approach, including advances in technology to enhance border security along the southern, northern, and coastal/maritime environments. CBP relies on a variety of technological capabilities that enhance the effectiveness of agents working between the ports of entry.
"While older technology like the Remote Video Surveillance Systems (RVSS) have been helpful operational tools for more than 15 years, they require significant maintenance and upgrades as they pass the end of their planned lifecycle.
"As systems go down, CBP works to resolve the issue by refreshing systems with new camera optics or replacing them entirely with a combination of mobile tower systems, aerial platforms, relocatable tower systems, and fixed observation posts to provide coverage in critical areas.
"CBP continues to install 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 within a local command center.
"To date, CBP has deployed 305 Automated Surveillance Towers (ASTs) and will deploy an additional 15 recently purchased Integrated Surveillance Towers (ISTs) in the coming months."
Who Does Border Patrol Support for President in the US Election?
Garza believes that Trump will be able to secure the border and "address this serious crisis and security concern. That's why the National World Patrol Council endorsed President Trump."
The Border Patrol Union officially endorsed the former president at a campaign rally in Prescott Valley's Findlay Toyota Center earlier in October.
Trump has pledged to hire 10,000 new agents, give a 10 percent raise for existing agents and $10,000 in retention and signing bonuses after ordering Republicans to oppose the bipartisan border security bill, which was endorsed by the union and would have added an extra 1,500 agents.
Without functioning cameras, border agents say it's impossible to accurately track how many individuals are entering the U.S. undetected.
"The fact that these cameras are not functioning, then it's clear that we have no idea how many people are entering our country and getting away," Garza said.
Responding to Newsweek's report, Taylor Rogers, RNC spokesperson, said: "This is further proof that Kamala Harris refuses to fulfill her role as border czar, ignores the invasion of dangerous criminals at the southern border, and has allowed her inhumane wide-open border policies to drive up sex trafficking.
"Thanks to failed border czar Kamala Harris, now more than 325,000 children are unaccounted for, and innocent victims like Texas' Jocelyn Nungaray have been brutally killed by illegal immigrants. Texas and all of America deserve a president that will close our border, deport illegal immigrants, make our communities safe, and put America first."
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