Opinion by Geoffrey Boyce and Sam Chambers: Robotic dogs patrolling the U.S. border will not stop migrants. But they may lead to more deaths.
There is a simple reason Arizona border policy is failing: It does not take into account people’s motivations for migrating in the first place. Most, if not all, of the people who seek entry into the United States through the desert are out of options to obtain safety for themselves or for their children, to reunite with loved ones in the United States, or to find some other avenue toward a better life. If they could secure these by other means, they would not choose this treacherous journey.
Over the past 30 years, the United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on what is essentially an ineffective enforcement policy. Sinking millions more into a surveillance program involving robotic dogs is senseless.That money could be better used to help address inefficiencies in the U.S. asylum system.
It’s time to call off the dogs and acknowledge the menace of high-tech surveillance in the desert. Any policies that actively lead to the deaths of some of the world’s most vulnerable people ought to be abandoned. Programmable pooches might someday do other good in the world, but they have no place along the Arizona border.