Archeologists are confronting an "unfathomable" loss as the US border wall is set to cut across ranches that are home to unique historical sites in Texas, many of which haven't been fully studied. Outrage has exploded over border infrastructure that recently began tearing up pristine desert landscapes in Big Bend National Park. But there's a quieter battle taking place on private lands in Texas, where the US border wall is set to cut across some of North America's richest archaeological sites, digging up ancient indigenous artifacts and fracturing millennia-old rock art in its path. The US Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection awarded billions of dollars in contracts this year toward the construction of a wall and other barriers in West Texas along a remote 500-plus-mile (800-plus-kilometer) riverfront expanse of the US-Mexico border that includes Big Bend National Park and other idyllic parklands. Bipartisan backlash against border wall construction in the national park was swift, ultimately prompting DHS to scuttle plans for a 30-foot steel bollard wall, instead replacing it with miles of riverside vehicle barriers and 200-plus miles of road construction.

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Charlie Hurt and Griff Jenkins examine a protest of border czar Tom Homan's meeting in Albany with New York lawmakers over their refusal to enforce immigration laws. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem announced the building of seven new miles of border wall in Arizona as part of the administration's efforts to "make America safe again." Noem's announcement, coming in a short video posted to her X account, marks the beginning of additional border wall construction along the southern border during the second Trump administration. The DHS said in a press release Friday that U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) awarded the first contract of President Donald Trump's second term to Granite Construction Co. for more than 70 million, which will result in seven new miles of border wall in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, according to Noem's announcement. "Everybody, I'm here in Arizona, and right at this spot, you can see where the border wall ends," Noem said while standing along the border, donning a CBP hat and jacket.

Former National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd on border agents threatening to leave if Kamala Harris wins the presidential election and explains agents' frustrations with the Biden-Harris administration. The Border Patrol is facing a large-scale outage of security cameras at the southern border with a memo reportedly warning it is having "significant impacts" on operations in apprehending migrants, although officials note there are other layers of security in place as well. NBC News reported that an October memo said nearly one-third of cameras, roughly 150 of 500 cameras on surveillance towers, were out due to technical issues. "The nationwide issue is having significant impacts on [Border Patrol] operations," the memo said. The Remote Video Surveillance Systems are nearly 15 years old and are used to monitor areas of the border without the need for regular on the ground patrols.

Last year, the United States Department of Homeland Security advertised the impending "deployment" on the US-Mexico border of "robot dogs". According to a celebratory feature article published on the department's website, the goal of the programme was to "force-multiply" the presence of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as well as to "reduce human exposure to life-threatening hazards". In case there was any doubt as to which human lives were of concern, the article specified: "The American Southwest is a region that blends a harsh landscape, temperature extremes and various other non-environmental threats that can create dangerous obstacles for those who patrol the border." There is no denying that the US-Mexico border is an inhospitable place; just ask the countless refuge seekers who have died trying to navigate it, thanks in large part to ongoing US efforts to effectively criminalise the very right to asylum. And the terrain is becoming ever more hostile with the mad dash to run the entire world on artificial intelligence, border "security" operations to boot. The proliferation of AI-reliant surveillance technology has increasingly forced undocumented people into ever more dangerous territory, where "non-environmental threats" will apparently now also include canine robots.

Fox News captured drone footage of trash and clothing discarded along a common crossing point for illegal immigrants near Normandy, Texas. Thousands of migrants have streamed across the border near Normandy, Texas, in recent weeks, leaving behind discarded trash and clothing in their wake. Drone footage of a frequent crossing point along the Rio Grande shows piles of discarded items at the end of an eroded walking trail. Similar scenes can be observed at the border in Eagle Pass and the surrounding area. Trash and clothing discarded along the Rio Grande in Normandy, Texas.

The Trump administration has reportedly awarded a contract to a California-based tech startup to set up hundreds of "autonomous surveillance towers" along the U.S.-Mexico border to aid its immigration enforcement efforts. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced on Thursday that the towers, which use artificial intelligence and imagery to identify people and vehicles, were now a "program of record" for the agency and that 200 would be deployed along the southern border by 2022. CBP did not mention the contract in its announcement, though the Washington Post reported that the effort includes a five-year agreement with Anduril Industries, a tech startup backed by investors such as Peter Thiel. Anduril executives told the Post that the deal is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The company, which specializes in AI and other technologies, is valued at $1.9 billion, according to Bloomberg News.

It's no secret that Palmer Luckey's Anduril Industries has been developing a "virtual wall" to heighten national security -- he's been at it for the better part of three years. That work (for better or worse) has finally paid off. According to a new report from the Washington Post, the Trump administration awarded Anduril a lucrative five-year contract to erect hundreds of AI-powered surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border by 2022. "These towers give agents in the field a significant leg up against the criminal networks that facilitate illegal cross-border activity," said Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott in a statement released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Anduril's hardware almost looks like it belongs in orbit, rather than sitting amid desert scrub.

Technology built for self-driving cars could be the next step in the US fight against illegal immigrants arriving from Mexico. Lidar, a laser-based detection system, would cost far less to install than a border fence and could alert authorities to people trying to cross the border. Quanergy Systems, a start-up company based in California, presented its Lidar-based system at CES in Las Vegas. The firm claims it is better for the environment, cheaper to operate and'more capable' than Donald Trump's proposed physical wall. His plans for a border wall have been fiercely opposed by Democrats, forcing a shutdown of the US federal government.

The US will levy trade tariffs on China this week designed to target "largely high-technology products." In retaliation for the taxation, China announced it would raise duties on 128 US imports. Begun, the trade wars have. President Trump, over Easter weekend, let loose on Twitter with his usual barrage of attacks. Jeff Bezos, Amazon, and The Washington Post took a moderate amount of vitriol, as did other usual suspects like immigrants and journalists.