James Cordero, 44, stumbled upon a hidden camera in an abandoned trailer on a remote backcountry road near San Diego, which led him to discover a vast surveillance network along California's border. The cameras, numbering up to 40, feed information into Trump administration databases and have raised concerns among privacy experts, civil liberties advocates, and humanitarian aid workers about government overreach and state law conflicts. According to Cordero, the cameras pose a risk to his volunteer group that provides aid to migrants in the area, who could be detained by agents for simply being tracked or pulled over. The surveillance network was enabled after California granted permits to federal agencies to place license plate readers on state highways in 2021.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
The Markup, now a part of CalMatters, uses investigative reporting, data analysis, and software engineering to challenge technology to serve the public good.
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Markup → use → good
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that → sign → inbox
On a cracked two-lane road on the eastern edge of San Diego County, James Cordero eased his Jeep onto the shoulder after something caught his eye.
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something → ease → eye
It looked like an abandoned trailer.
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Inside he found a hidden camera feeding a vast surveillance network that logs the license plate of every driver passing through this stretch of remote backcountry between San Diego and the Arizona state line.
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that → find → Diego
Cordero, 44, has found dozens of these cameras hidden in trailers and construction barrels on border roads around San Diego and Imperial counties: one on Old Highway 80 near Jacumba Hot Springs; another outside the Golden Acorn Casino in Campo; another along Interstate 8 toward In-Ko-Pah Gorge.
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Cordero → find → Gorge
They started showing up after California granted permits to the Border Patrol and other federal agencies to place license plate readers on state highways in the last months of the Biden administration.
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California → show → administration
Now as many as 40 are feeding information into Trump administration databases as the Democratic-led state chafes over the federal government’s massive deportation program.
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state → feed → program
The cameras are raising concerns with privacy experts, civil liberties advocates and humanitarian aid workers who say California should not be supporting the surveillance and data-collection program, which they view as an unwarranted government intrusion into the lives of Americans who’ve committed no crime.
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who → raise → crime
Moreover, they say the program conflicts with state law.
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program → say → law
Supporters say the devices allow law enforcement to quickly identify and locate people they suspect of serious crimes.
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they → say → crimes
They also argue the cameras help agencies spot patterns in drug and human trafficking, and could be used to help locate missing persons, such as children or other vulnerable people.
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agencies → argue → children
“If you’re not doing anything illegal, why worry about it?” said long-time Jacumba resident Allen Stanks, 70.
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Stanks → do → it
“Everyone is talking about privacy, OK.
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Everyone → talk → privacy
‘Here’s a picture of my food.’
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picture → ’ → food
Who cares?” said Stanks.
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Stanks → care → ?
Some locals, however, suspect the cameras are behind some unusual encounters they’ve had in recent months with officers from Border Patrol and its parent agency, Customs and Border Protection.
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they → suspect → Patrol
In one case agents questioned a grandmother – a lawful permanent resident – about why she went to a casino, according to her grandson.
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she → question → grandson
Cordero has a different concern.
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Cordero → have → concern
On his days off, he leads volunteers into the far reaches of the county, leaving water, food and clothing for migrants.
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he → lead → migrants
He fears his colleagues could be detained by agents.
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colleagues → fear → agents
“I’m not so much worried about myself, but I’m worried about a lot of our volunteers that come out
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that → ’m → volunteers
,” said Cordero.
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Cordero → say → ?
“I don’t want them to have to deal with any of the nonsense of being tracked or being pulled over and questioned.”
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them → want → nonsense
He has good reason to be nervous.
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During the first Trump administration, federal officials prosecuted volunteers from the humanitarian group “No More Deaths” for leaving water and supplies for migrants in the Arizona desert.
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officials → prosecute → desert
The volunteers faced charges, including “abandonment of property” and felony harboring, though the convictions for some were later overturned.
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convictions → face → some
Border Patrol provides little information about its use of license plate readers on its website.
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In 2020, the Department of Homeland Security issued a report that describes the technology in general, but doesn’t specify where it’s being used.
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it → issue → technology
The Markup and CalMatters reached out to Border Patrol and Homeland Security officials for comment, but did not receive a response.
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“There’s no transparency, that’s the worst part,” Cordero said.
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Cordero → ’ → ?
The Homeland Security report says some readers are capturing license plate numbers, as well as the make and model of the vehicle, the state the vehicle is registered in, the camera owner and type, the GPS coordinates for where the image was taken, and the date and time of the capture.
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image → say → capture
The “technology may also capture (within the image) the environment surrounding a vehicle, which may include drivers and passengers,” the report states.
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report → capture → drivers
It also says feds can access license plate readers operated by commercial vendors.
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feds → say → vendors
Earlier this month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and a coalition of 30 organizations sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Department of Transportation urging them to revoke state permits and remove the covert readers operated by federal agencies like Customs and Border Protection and the Drug Enforcement Agency along California border highways.
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The San Francisco-based privacy and civil rights advocacy organization, also known as EFF, mapped out more than 40 hidden license plate readers in Southern California, most of them along border roadways.
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organization → base → roadways
It contends the devices bypass a 2016 state law that spells out how law enforcement agencies can use automated license plate readers, which are often referred to as ALPRs.
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which → contend → ALPRs
“By allowing Border Patrol and the DEA to put license plate readers along the border, they’re essentially bypassing the protections under (California law),” said Dave Maass, the director of investigations for EFF.
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Maass → allow → EFF
Maass said he believes Cordero’s concerns about the agency surveilling humanitarian volunteers may be valid.
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concerns → say → volunteers
“They claim they might be looking for smugglers or they might be looking for cartel members, but that’s not who they’re collecting data on,” said Maass.
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Maass → claim → data
…and 47 more, not listed.
