Soldiers using surveillance cameras to help catch migrants at border

Hundreds of military personnel have been stationed at the U.S.- Mexico border since October to help homeland security efforts.

But what is it they do since they can’t apprehend migrants?

The 1,200 soldiers and Marines at the border are serving as an extra set of eyes for the Border Patrol, with more than 150 surveillance stations from California to McAllen – which is a new challenge for even some of the most experienced members of the military, who say they had no idea about the southwest border’s complexities and challenges.

So why does Border Patrol need military to be staffing surveillance vehicles?

Just one of the surveillance trucks can monitor a wide area — all the way from Mt, Cristo Rey to several miles west, well into New Mexico. That means that Border Patrol agents do not have to do the surveillance work, and those agents can be sent to the border to patrol and actual do apprehensions and processing duties.

In wide open areas of the Chihuahuan desert, those cameras can look around for miles. The cameras allow the Border Patrol to know when people are crossing, all thanks to the soldiers.

The troops that have been stationed at the border since last October may go on until this September, unless their orders are changed or extended.