'Virtual Fence' to Protect Our Border in Doubt

WASHINGTON (March 17) -- The fate of the once-touted "virtual fence" designed to protect the nation's Southwest border along Mexico from terrorists, gun-toting drug dealers and illegal immigrants is in doubt.

With the project plagued by endless problems, including faulty high-tech equipment, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday that she was freezing additional funding for the virtual fence that was supposed to stretch across 2,000 miles of border. She has ordered an assessment of the $6 billion-plus project that to date has cost the government $1.1 billion.

"Not only do we have an obligation to secure our borders, we have a responsibility to do so in the most cost-effective way possible," Napolitano said in a statement posted on the agency's Web site. "The system of sensors and cameras along the Southwest border known as SBInet has been plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines."

The ambitious project, which calls for a virtual fence made up of cameras, ground sensors and radar, was announced in 2005 during the Bush administration. It was touted as a way to bolster the existing security, which included thousands of border patrol agents and 650 miles of real fences.

The virtual fence was supposed to be completed in 2009, then 2011 and then 2014.

Napolitano said Tuesday that the department would "redeploy" $50 million of stimulus money from the project to other tools to protect the border including "mobile surveillance, thermal imaging devices, ultra-light detection, backscatter units, mobile radios, cameras and laptops for pursuit vehicles, and remote video surveillance system enhancements."

The virtual fence, which currently runs along only two areas in Arizona, has been fraught with problems and is expected to get a tough review at a hearing Thursday before the House Homeland Security Committee. The committee is expected to have a new report from the Government Accountability Office, which is critical of the project and Homeland Security's oversight of it.

"Since its inception, the SBInet program has been a grave and expensive disappointment," committee Chairman Rep. Benny Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement Tuesday.

He said Napolitano's announcement shows that "this troubled program needs better management and stronger oversight."

"We are tired of listening to stories about faulty cameras, poor tower stability and overly sensitive sensors which have led to failed testing," Thompson said. "This week my committee will once again examine the program and consider whether SBInet can contribute to the security of our nation's borders."

Under the system, sophisticated cameras, sensors and radar would allow for dispatchers to monitor the border and quickly send out Border Patrol agents. But there have been endless reports of flaws: Radar has malfunctioned in the rain, video cameras have not worked properly, and trees and vegetation have been mistaken for people when the wind blows.

Boeing, the contractor for the project, issued a statement Tuesday saying it was "fully committed to delivering border-security technology that successfully assists" the department, according to The New York Times. But it declined to comment on the handling of the project.