Privacy, immigrant rights groups slam ‘smart wall’ proposal

A coalition of privacy and immigrant rights groups are pushing back on the Biden administration’s proposal to deploy a new technology and surveillance systems on the southern border.

In a statement released Thursday and first obtained by The Hill, the 40 groups slam the legislation introduced in Congress last week as a “continuation of the Trump administration’s racist border policies, not a break from it.”

The letter pans the proposed use of “smart technology” at the border as “Trump’s wall by another name.”

The administration’s proposal authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to develop technology and surveillance infrastructure to “manage and secure the southern border.”

The groups, including Mijente, Fight for the Future and United We Dream, point to research suggesting that those solutions can lead migrants to take longer and more dangerous routes that can result in increased deaths.