Customs and Border Protection’s plans for deploying and using various sensor-based systems to enhance security along the southwest border from 2014 to early 2020 have been hindered due to shifting technology priorities, aging equipment, and other challenges, a Department of Homeland Security oversight office says in a new report.

“In accordance with its 2014 Southwest Border Technology Plan, CBP planned to deploy a significant number of surveillance systems to Border Patrol sectors responsible for securing the southwest border,” the DHS Office of the Inspector General says in its report released on Feb. 26. “However, Border Patrol has only been able to deploy about 28 percent of the surveillance technologies planned for its southwest border sectors.”

The report only covers deployments through Feb. 2020 and in comments included in the appendix and dates Jan. 2021, CBP says a draft report misses the progress the agency has made since early 2020 with respect to border security technologies and surveillance activities. However, CBP doesn’t provide an update regarding deployed technology versus the original plan.

The IG says that from 2014 through early 2020, at least 527 major surveillance systems of the planned 728 had not been deployed. These systems include the Integrated Fixed Tower (IFT), Remote Video Surveillance System (RVSS), and Mobile Video Surveillance System (MVSS), of which 201 were deployed across five Border Patrol sectors.

Some of the reasons for the shortfall in sensor system deployments includes shifting priorities, including the use of small unmanned aircraft systems (sUAS) and a software application called the Team Awareness Kit (TAK) that gives agent communications and data sharing capabilities on their smart phones. The report says that the Border Patrol in fiscal year 2018 diverted $3 million from other programs to support TAK and in FY ’19 removed $2.9 million from the Mobile Surveillance Capability program in favor of sUAS.

The IG also says that the CBP had requested $385 million for IFT deployments but the funding was not approved, delaying deployments until FY ’21.

The Border Patrol is also facing challenges with aging technology, some of which is beyond its expected life. The report says some RVSS system are 15 to 20 years old and frequently malfunction and need repairs, yet “Replacement parts are obsolete and these systems are no longer supported by the manufacturer.”

The report cites two instances where RVSS cameras were out of service for three and 15 months respectively while awaiting repair. In another example, it says 18 towers that support surveillance and communications technology were considered unsafe for technicians to climb and make repairs.

A key technology component that is accompanying new physical barriers along portions of the southwest border is the Linear Ground Detection System (LGDS), a sensor and communications that can detect nearby illegal activity such as a person digging or climbing the wall and provides alerts via a user interface to the local Border Patrol station. The IG says that by the end of FY ’18, CBP had planned to deploy 40 linear miles of the LGDS but had only installed 12 miles as of Feb. 2020. By FY ’27, the goal is to deploy more than 1,100 miles of LGDS along the southwest border.

The report attributes delays in the LGDS system installations to disruptions in construction of the border wall.

In addition to delays in deploying various border security sensor technologies, the Border Patrol has lacked the necessary personnel to take full advantage of its technology resources due to retirements and resignations. The agency also lacks the manpower to maintain its technology and infrastructure, the report says.

The IG also says that its various sensor systems in the field, including ground sensors, imaging sensors and tower-based camera are often underutilized or unavailable because Border Patrol agents are sometimes deployed to duties that don’t involve physically patrolling the border such as processing detainees and operating vehicle checkpoints. In these cases, the sensor system generates alerts but there are no agents available to respond.