LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — The U.S. Border Patrol once focused on the nation’s edges. Now, according to new Associated Press findings, it monitors millions of American drivers through a nationwide web of cameras and algorithms.

The system analyzes travel routes and flags “suspicious” travel patterns—where someone drove, how quickly they returned, or which roads they chose. Local police then receive the information from federal agents and pull drivers over for minor violations.

MORE NEWS: Michigan’s Pro-Life Ground Game Is Clocking In Early Ahead of Midterm Elections

Most drivers have no idea a federal database put them on the radar. They only know once officers question them about minor traffic issues, such as a signaling mistake or equipment violation.

What began as a tool to fight trafficking near the border has expanded deep into the interior. Border Patrol now works with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), private vendors, and local departments to build what amounts to a domestic intelligence network.

Agents have placed covert cameras not just near Mexico and Canada, but near major cities like Detroit, Chicago, and Phoenix—some more than 100 miles beyond the usual border jurisdiction. The equipment is often disguised in traffic barrels and roadside hardware.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says the program is tightly regulated and aimed at criminal networks, not ordinary citizens. 

As the agency put it, the system is “governed by a stringent, multi-layered policy framework, as well as federal law and constitutional protections, to ensure the technology is applied responsibly and for clearly defined security purposes.”