The mechanism: Congress didn't just fund more agents at the border — it funded the sensors and software that watch it. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law and now flowing through DHS appropriations, earmarks roughly $2.6–2.77 billion specifically for Autonomous Surveillance Towers, Integrated Fixed Towers, and mobile surveillance capability, part of a broader $3.45 billion CBP border-tech line inside a $170 billion multiyear DHS package running through FY2029. That money splits cleanly into two budget categories procurement officers actually write checks against: the physical layer (cameras, radar, drones, dock hardware) and the analytics layer (fusing feeds, running biometric matches, generating case files). Two very different public companies own those categories.

Who cashes in: