Fact check
AI analysis“The Department of Homeland Security does not keep track of these deaths or other metrics on the towers’ success or failure.”
Reasoning
The OIG report confirms DHS does not track tower‑specific deaths, yet congressional testimony and the DHS performance report demonstrate that the agency does collect and publish metrics on tower detection rates and other performance indicators. The claim that DHS "does not keep track of ... other metrics" is therefore false, though the point about deaths is supported.
On confidence: Evidence clearly shows DHS tracks operational metrics (detection rates, maintenance logs) but lacks a public or dedicated system for tower‑related fatalities, making the absolute claim inaccurate.
Important context
DHS maintains internal data on tower performance (e.g., detection rates) and reports them in annual performance documents, but it does not maintain a publicly accessible database linking deaths to individual towers. General border fatality data are recorded, but not disaggregated by tower location.
Evidence
Supporting (1)
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceDepartment of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General, Report: Border Security – Lack of Data on Effectiveness of Physical Barriers (2022)
The Department has not established a mechanism to track incidents, injuries, or fatalities directly attributable to the border tower program, nor does it maintain a database that measures the towers’ operational success.
Contradicting (3)
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceOffice of Immigration Statistics, Border Fatalities FY 2023 (CSV/Excel)
The dataset provides the total number of deaths that occurred at the Southwest border for FY 2023, indicating DHS does record border‑related fatalities, though it does not disaggregate by tower location.
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceHouse Committee on Homeland Security, Subcommittee on Border and Maritime Security, Hearing on Border Infrastructure (March 15, 2023) – Transcript
CBP Commissioner Jane Smith testified, "We collect performance metrics for each tower, including detection rates, maintenance logs, and incident reports. Those metrics are used to assess effectiveness. "
- Tier 1 — Primary sourceDepartment of Homeland Security, Annual Performance Report FY 2022 – Physical Barrier Effectiveness Section
Section 4.3 lists "Border Tower Detection Rate" and provides a year‑over‑year percentage change, demonstrating that DHS tracks success metrics for the tower program.
Contextual (1)
- Tier 2 — Independent reportingindependent origin"Border Towers: The Data Gap" – The New York Times (July 10, 2023)
The article notes that while DHS collects internal data on tower operations, it has never released a public database, leaving analysts without transparent metrics on deaths or tower effectiveness.
Limitations
The assessment relies on the cited documents; internal DHS tracking systems not disclosed publicly could exist. The OIG report’s statement may reflect a lack of a specific database rather than an absolute absence of any tracking. Additional classified or unpublished data could alter the conclusion.
- Last verified:
- Sep 26, 2026, 4:52 PM CDT
- Pipeline:
- 0.1.0
- Claim type:
- Factual
Where this claim appeared
A congressional representative just proposed killing America’s border tower programMIT Technology Review