These towers, they're like high-tech scarecrows out in the desert.

They're mounted at around 100 feet tall because the whole purpose of the towers is to get up and above the landscape so you can see a wide area.

And if you can see the towers,

right, they can see you. From Futuro Media and PRX, it's Latino USA. I'm Maria Injoosa. Today,

a story about how new border technology is impacting communities in the United States.

We go to Arizona where private companies built some of the first surveillance towers on the

U.S.-Mexico border.

And we're going to take a look at what these towers mean today for our country, for the future

of the people who are crossing, and for the future of the people who live on the border.

So with me in the studio is Latino USA producer, Reynaldo Leonez Jr.

Hey, Ray.

Hey, Maria.

So, Ray, you have been busy over the last several months.

You've been researching surveillance technology, specifically technology that's being used on the U.S.-Mexico border.

So tell me what has been your focus. Yeah, well, let me start off by saying that, you know,

both you and I have reported on the

border for years now. And I grew up in the Real Grand Valley of South Texas, and I was an

immigration reporter there for a while. Right. And you did a lot of strong reporting along the

border. In fact, you were covering the last two years of the Trump administration, specifically policies like the Remain in Mexico program and the expulsions because of Title 42.

Yes, I reported on those policies, and for this story, I decided to look at border technology and how it's impacting migration. And I

specifically wanted to dig deep and better understand these border surveillance towers that are

there and these integrated fixed towers. So that's a very high-tech term, integrated fixed towers.

...