This article was written on June 25, 2024, but only made it off the Edunomix publication queue in June of 2025.
Three weeks ago, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a series of measures aimed at strengthening security along the US-Mexico border, heightening the consequences of illegal immigration. On June 18th, though, Biden signed legislation offering citizenship to over half a million illegal immigrants who are spouses of US citizens. Just four months before the upcoming presidential election, Biden’s actions have provoked members of both parties.
The economic implications of illegal immigration have pluses and minuses; the Congressional Budget Office projects that the expanded labor supply will increase economic growth over the long term, but others see it as a pressure on local economies and job mobility. As Harvard economics professor George J. Borjas put it, “Immigration redistributes wealth from those who compete with immigrants to those who use immigrants—from the employee to the employer.” With the immigration crisis becoming more and more politically contentious, debate has sparked over potential implementations to Southern border patrol, notably surveillance infrastructure.
In addition to cameras, sensors, and drones, there are currently more than 465 surveillance towers lined up along the border, creating high maintenance costs for the federal government. Those in favor of expanding these surveillance measures point to poor resource allocation from local law enforcement in the region; biometric identification devices, AI-powered video analytics, and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) would save human capital and improve the overall efficiency of border agencies. Moreover, this technology–equipped with the capability to analyze patterns and predict threats–can prevent known organized crime affiliates from crossing the border.
The economic perspective, though, is not straightforward. Proponents of increased surveillance argue that illegal immigration harms the wages of low-skill American laborers. However, a survey by the Pew Research Center found that 77% of Americans believe that undocumented immigrants only take up jobs that Americans do not even want in the first place. Still, with the stagnation of blue-collar wages over the last few decades, proponents of great surveillance point to the 23%. That, in tandem with the strain that rapid immigration places on various public systems including education and healthcare, creates a strong argument for more surveillance.
On the other hand, critics have expressed concerns over civil liberties that an increase in surveillance would threaten. The American Civil Liberties Union has documented numerous instances of privacy infringement and racial profiling–made possible by the opaquely monitored overreach of surveillance technology. Moreover, the financial and even ecological cost of implementing these systems is huge; some argue that the funds should be reallocated to address more pressing issues.
Whether or not expanded surveillance infrastructure will actually be effective is another ambiguity. Limited by weather conditions and vulnerable to hacking attempts, there are various technological limitations that prevent it from always being effective. Even when they are effective, though, these systems may simply push illegal immigrants to more dangerous routes as a means of evading detection. In fact, Reuters research confirms that an increase in border security is correlated with an increase in migrant death.
With multiple pros and cons, it is hard to say whether expanding autonomous infrastructure along the border is the correct move. A more effective solution may lie in increasing opportunities for lawful immigration, puncturing the root of the crisis.
Sources
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60039
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-us-patrols-its-borders
https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/privacy-borders-and-checkpoints
https://www.aclu.org/documents/constitution-100-mile-border-zone
Image: https://www.codastory.com/surveillance-and-control/us-border-surveillance/