当我们想到美国南部边境时，通常会想到一堵实体围墙——那是一道可见的、高耸入云的屏障，横跨整个边境地区。但实际上，边境的意义远不止于此。在过去25年里，美国海关与边境保护局（CBP）还建立了一道“虚拟围墙”：一个由近2000英里长的监控塔、飞艇和无人机组成的监控网络。
When we think of the southern border we usually picture a wall, something physical: visible, tall and stretching across the landscape. But there’s more to the border than the literal barrier. Over the past 25 years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has built a virtual wall too — a nearly 2,000-mile network of surveillance towers, blimps and drones.
与唐纳德·特朗普总统所倡导的实体围墙不同，这道“虚拟围墙”并未引发同样的争议。两党的立法者普遍支持这一举措，民主党人甚至认为它是比实体围墙更合理的解决方案。在多个政府执政期间，数十亿美元被投入到了这个监控系统中。
Unlike President Donald Trump’s physical wall, this virtual one hasn’t drawn the same level of controversy. Lawmakers in both parties generally support it, and Democrats have at times embraced it as a more sensible alternative to a literal border wall. Across multiple administrations, billions of dollars have poured into the system.
如果这个系统真的像宣传的那样有效，何塞·莫拉莱斯·贝尔纳尔本应该会被抓获——或许他现在还活着。
If the system had worked as advertised, Bernal would have been apprehended — and perhaps he’d still be alive. Take the towers.
以这些监控塔为例：CBP将其描述为高科技远程监控设施，能够实时监测边境地区的活动、检测未经授权的越境行为，并追踪人员的移动轨迹。这些监控塔配备了雷达、热成像设备和高清摄像头，可以全天候对边境地区进行监控。
CBP describes them as high-tech remote structures that monitor border regions, detect unauthorized crossings and track movement in real time. Using radar, thermal imaging and high-definition cameras, they’re designed to scan the terrain day and night.
根据2023年的政府估算，目前已有800多座这样的监控塔投入使用，其总造价约为62亿美元。这一数字预计还会继续上升：CBP计划在未来十年内再投入10亿美元，用于建造另外1500座配备人工智能技术的监控塔。
More than 800 towers are already in use, with an estimated lifetime price tag of $6.2 billion, according to a 2023 government estimate. That number will almost certainly keep climbing: CBP plans to spend another $1 billion on almost 1,500 more towers enabled with artificial intelligence over the next decade.
这笔资金数额巨大，而CBP则认为这笔钱花得很值。他们声称这项技术更加安全、更有效，能够帮助执法人员“始终处于主动地位”。他们还声称这道“虚拟围墙”挽救了无数人的生命，并多次在新闻稿中强调这项技术帮助执法人员成功解救了移民。
That’s a whole lot of money. And CBP says it’s money well spent. The agency claims the technology is safer and “more effective” and helps keep agents “one step ahead.”It also says the virtual wall saves lives, regularly issuing press releases that credit the technology with helping agents rescue migrants.
然而，尽管有这么多先进的监控设备，为何却没有人能够及时救助何塞·莫拉莱斯·贝尔纳尔呢？
So with all that technology supposedly watching, it’s hard to understand why no one helped José Morales Bernal.
根据《麻省理工科技评论》的报道，贝尔纳尔于2024年4月穿过新墨西哥州南部酷热的沙漠进入美国，当时他距离32岁生日仅差一天。他当时正处于三座由人工智能驱动的监控塔的监测范围内；这些监控塔的设计目的是自动检测人员并向附近的执法人员发出警报。
According to MIT Technology Review, Bernal crossed into the U.S. through the scorching desert of southern New Mexico in April 2024, one day before his 32nd birthday. He was within range of three AI-powered surveillance towers, systems designed to detect people automatically and to alert nearby agents.
然而，警报并未被触发。后来，垃圾填埋场的工人发现贝尔纳尔躺在沙滩上，以为他只是在睡觉。三个小时后，由于他仍未动弹，他们便联系了边境巡逻队（CBP）。当局确认贝尔纳尔死于环境因素的影响——他的尸体在距离其中一座监控塔仅360英尺（约110米）的地方躺了数小时。
But that never happened. Landfill workers later spotted Bernal lying in the sand and assumed he was asleep. Three hours later, when he still had not moved, they called Border Patrol. Authorities confirmed that he died from environmental exposure. His body lay just 360 feet from a surveillance tower for hours.
当《麻省理工科技评论》将这一发现告知边境巡逻队时，该机构回应称：“这些自动监控塔通过提升入口处的检测能力与应急响应协调性，从而辅助物理屏障及其他边境安全设施发挥作用。”制造这些监控塔的科技公司Uril向《麻省理工科技评论》解释说：一旦监控塔交付给边境巡逻队，后续的运营工作便由该机构负责。他们还表示，即使有人在监控塔附近发生意外，也不意味着监控系统未能及时发现相关人员。
When MIT Technology Review confronted CBP with their findings, the agency responded that the automatic surveillance towers “complement physical barriers and other border security infrastructure by improving detection and situational awareness between ports of entry. CBP evaluates the technology based on its impact on detection, response coordination, agent safety, and mission outcomes.” uril, the tech company that makes these newest towers, told MIT Technology Review, in part, that once a tower is delivered to CBP, it is operated by the agency. They also said that an incident occurring near a tower does not mean it missed a detection.
遗憾的是，贝尔纳尔的死亡并非个例。《麻省理工科技评论》与《圣地亚哥时报》共同调查发现，在2015年至2026年间，共有超过1000人在边境监控塔的监测范围内死亡。记者们发现，在他们分析的监控塔中，近三分之二的塔都存在导致人员死亡的情况。更先进的技术并未改变这一悲剧：自2021年以来，估计已有“110多人”在边境巡逻队部署的这些最先进的自动化监控塔的监测范围内丧生。
But, unfortunately, Bernal’s death is not an outlier. MIT Technology Review and the Times of San Diego identified more than 1,000 known deaths within the range of border surveillance towers between 2015 and 2026. The journalists found deaths within the advertised range of almost two-thirds of the towers they analyzed. And newer technology has not necessarily changed the outcome: Since 2021, they estimate that “more than 110 people have died within range of modern autonomous towers,” which are among the most advanced systems CBP has deployed.
这才是真正的问题所在：美国海关与边境保护局（CBP）花费了大量资源来建立一个能够监控一切的监控系统，但调查显示，“CBP几乎没有对这套系统的运行情况进行评估，也没有统计过在这些监控塔附近究竟有多少人因此丧生。”
That’s the real kicker: CBP has spent building a system meant to see everything — yet, as the investigation found, “CBP has done little to assess how its towers are working or how many people have died where they keep watch.”
在CBP所谓的“虚拟边境墙”背后，似乎隐藏着一个致命的“盲点”。（MS NOW）
The post CBP’s virtual border wall seems to have a deadly blind spot MS NOW