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The Department of Homeland Security also utilizes cell-site simulators, known as StingRays and Triggerfish, though it's unclear if that is true of US Customs and Border Protection, which operates within DHS. A Border Patrol agent in Tucson told us he doesn't believe the agency has a way of collecting metadata from phones actively pinging in the desert or otherwise, but could not elaborate. He did say that a dispatcher could get a phone's GPS spot if the device originated in the US, but if it's a Mexican phone, the dispatcher can only locate the cell tower it's hitting. More migrants with burners means more traceable pings—potentially making a case for expanded cell-site simulator use on the US side of the border.A recent Pew poll suggested more Mexicans are leaving than entering the United States. Yet Central American migrants are coming north in greater numbers. "Since the start of civilization, everything has been moved by migration," said Ricardo Pineda Albarrán, the Mexican consul in Tucson. "It's a way for human beings to live, to adapt." The same could be said about technology.Check out the full investigation over on Motherboard.This article appeared in the April issue of VICE magazine. Click HERE to subscribe."Since the start of civilization, everything has been moved by migration." —Ricardo Pineda Albarrán