A groundbreaking MIT Technology Review investigation has documented over 1,000 people who moved through areas monitored by the US "virtual wall" of surveillance towers along the southern border without being reached or apprehended, ultimately dying there. Despite billions spent over 25 years on this technology — including newly installed AI-powered towers designed to automatically spot people — the system has repeatedly failed its basic security promise and humanitarian objective.

The findings reveal a humanitarian crisis more visible than previously known, with some deaths occurring even under the watch of advanced automated surveillance. MIT Technology Review editors and reporters Mat Honan, James O'Donnell, and Eileen Guo will examine these technological failures and uncover the stories of those who die in the borderlands.

Related investigations include a comprehensive map of deaths along the virtual wall and four proposed ways to address the documented failures. The virtual wall was promised to help detect and apprehend border crossers while saving lives, but the evidence shows a stark gap between that promise and reality.