CBP is testing robo-dogs at the border
DHS and Border Patrol are working together to eventually deploy Ghost Robotic's "dogs" on the border, in particular desert terrain.
Terminator dogs will supposedly act as a "force multiplier" for CBP in patrols and interdiction. https://t.co/rFp6ITp3Ak pic.twitter.com/ekgmb6Juih
— Jack Herrera (@jherrerx) February 2, 2022
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security issued a fluffy press release where it acknowledged its experimenting with dog-shaped “Automated Ground Surveillance Vehicles” to potentially one day roam the border. These robo-dogs, the agency says, could act as a mobile surveillance machine to “force-multiply the CBP presence.”
CBP worked with Ghost Robotics to create a custom-built, 100-pound robotic dog it says can traverse the border’s rugged landscape, endure extreme heat, and navigate through stairs and other human environments to function as an all-in-one surveillance juggernaut.
“We are trying to keep CBP and other government personnel in the field out of harm’s way,” Ghost Robotics CEO Jiren Parikh told Axios this week.
The DHS announcement drew the ire of rights groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which recently called the Ghost Robotics machine a “ civil liberties-invading hellhound.” Sending robo-dogs to prance around the border threatens to further erode the rights of people living near the border, who the EFF referred to as some of the most highly surveilled in the United States.
