Rep. Ramirez moves to kill US border surveillance tower program after death toll report
Citing an MIT Technology Review investigation into over 1,000 deaths near border towers, Rep. Delia Ramirez unveils a bill to scrap the program as part of a push to dismantle DHS.
What to know
- MIT Technology Review's 'Dying on Camera' investigation found nearly 1,100 deaths occurred within the advertised range of border surveillance towers between 2015 and 2026, roughly one in four analyzed deaths.
- Rep. Delia Ramirez's Reimagining Safety Act would terminate the tower program as part of a plan to replace DHS with a Department of Community Safety, redistributing CISA, FEMA, TSA, and customs functions elsewhere.
- The bill's text has not been released and faces a steep path in Congress, where even some Democrats favor reforming DHS rather than dismantling it.
- DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has flatly rejected the effort, calling it a radical-left push to defund law enforcement.
“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”
Delia Ramirez, US Representative (D-IL) · MIT Technology Review ↗ · Sep 22
Delia Ramirez US Representative (D-IL)
Markwayne Mullin US Secretary of Homeland SecurityJust Futures Law Immigrant rights/racial justice advocacy groupMijente Latinx political advocacy organizationMIT Technology Review Investigative outlet
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts
-
2
MIT Technology Review recaps the bill in its daily newsletter
The Download newsletter summarized Ramirez's proposal and promoted an upcoming subscriber-only Roundtable on September 28 with the investigation's reporters and editor-in-chief.
-
S
TL;DR: Delia Ramirez, a Democratic US representative, is set to introduce legislation aimed at scrapping the controversial surveillance tower program at America’s borders, coinciding with AI's significant impact during Climate Week. https://www. technologyreview.com/2026/09/2 4/1145064/the-download-bid-scrap-virtual-wall-ai-climate-week/ # law #…
-
-
1
DHS Secretary Mullin rejects calls to dismantle the department
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin dismissed the proposal, framing it as part of a broader push to defund law enforcement that he said would not happen.
“Radical leftists are calling to defund the police and abolish DHS. It’s NEVER going to happen.”
— Markwayne Mullin -
C
In a significant move, Delia Ramirez, a Democratic US representative from Illinois, has proposed legislation aimed at terminating the controversial surveillance tower program along the US southern border. This announcement follows a revealing investigation by MIT Technology Review, which highlighted a troubling statistic: over 1,050 individuals…
-
-
background
Ramirez unveils bill to terminate border tower program — At a Chicago press conference, Ramirez announced the Reimagining Safety Act, developed with advocacy groups Just Futures Law and Mijente, to end the tower program as part of a broader plan to replace DHS with a Department of Community Safety.
-
background
ICE agent shoots delivery driver in Austin, feeding anti-ICE sentiment — Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a delivery driver, was shot in the back by an ICE agent, adding to growing public support for abolishing ICE amid the Trump administration's enforcement operations.
-
background
MIT Technology Review publishes 'Dying on Camera' investigation — The investigation found that nearly one in four analyzed border deaths between 2015 and early 2026 occurred within the advertised range of surveillance towers, and that DHS does not track deaths or other success metrics for the towers.