Watching the Border: The Virtual Fence

Terrorism and homeland security have been back in the news the past few weeks, and once again the focus has been on intelligence failures and airport security. But the easiest way for terrorists to get into the United States may well be across the nation's porous 2,000 mile border with Mexico. And it is no secret.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations have revealed that hundreds of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and countries associated with terrorism have entered the country through Mexico, and according to a study done for the Border Patrol, around 90 percent of the people who try to get in that way eventually make it.

President Clinton built a wall to try and stop it, and President Bush tried to tackle the problem with technology, initiating an ambitious program he called a "virtual fence," that would allow the U.S. to visually monitor most of the border.

The bureaucrats at Homeland Security changed the name of the program to the "Secure Border Initiative Network" or SBInet, and after three years and a billion dollars, 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft decided to see how it was going.

Web Extra: Bad For Taxpayers?
Web Extra: The Virtual Fence

An 80-foot tower near Sasabe, Ariz. is just one of a network of electronic observation posts that dot the landscape along the Mexican border south of Tucson.

They're part of a system that the Department of Homeland Security intended to be the eyes and ears of the U.S. Border Patrol, scanning the Southern frontier for migrants, drug smugglers, and even international terrorists trying to enter the country illegally.

"These towers are located based on geography, terrain, and what the Border Patrol knows about typical traffic patterns. So these are placed because they're where we believe they're gonna be most effective," Mark Borkowski, the executive director of this huge technological undertaking for Homeland Security," told Kroft.

Each one of the observation towers is equipped with long range radar and high resolution cameras, and is connected to underground sensors. It was designed and built by Boeing, one of the nation's largest defense contractors; Borkowski himself is a rocket scientist who used to work for NASA.

"It's not rocket science. But it is still a complex, ambitious project, particularly the way it was originally designed, which was to cover the entire border with this technology," Borkowski told Kroft.

Asked why the United States needs this project, Borkowski said, "Well, we need it because we need to secure our borders. I think it's a national imperative that we want to secure our borders."

In principal it's not that much different from the security systems you might find in someone's home, office building, or the convenience store down the block - only on a much larger and more sophisticated scale.

The cameras and sensors on the towers are capable of picking up the slightest movements up to six or seven miles away, and shooting off an alert to a Border Patrol station, where an agent can then focus the cameras on the exact location. The visual information allows them to discern whether the intrusion is a threat that needs to be investigated or one that can be ignored.

"So in simple terms, what you want to do is you want to be able to look at the entire border with Mexico?" Kroft asked.

"Right. Where it's appropriate to look at the entire border, right," Borkowski replied.

"And then, if you see somebody crossing, you can dispatch Border Patrol people out to catch them?" Kroft asked.

"Correct," he replied. "We have a view of this person. We know if they're by themselves or with other people. We know if they're riding or not riding. We know if they're carrying things or not carrying things."

But unfortunately for Borkowski and the two people who had the job before him, it has proven to be much easier said than done.

When Boeing was awarded the initial contract back in 2006, it made some rather extravagant promises, claiming it could complete the project quickly and that virtually no one would be able to sneak across the border undetected.

Asked how this has worked out, Richard Stana, the director of homeland security issues for the Government Accountability Office, said, "Well, it hasn't worked out so far as well as they had hoped."

And that is putting the best possible face on it. One of Stana's jobs has been to investigate and monitor the project for Congress.

According to Stana, Boeing promised to complete the first 28 miles of the surveillance system in just eight months and wire the entire Mexican border in three years.

"In fact, this was supposed to be all deployed by now, by 2008-2009. The entire Southwest border was to be covered by SBI," Stana said.

But according to him that hasn't happened and that "we're still in the early stages."

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[Bruno_Mueller]

Time has passed but still hard to believe how Boeing could fail with this project! They should have contacted Honeywell using their border protection solution (MAXPROTECT).
Multi sensor meta data fusion, geo-special analytics is available and could have solved all issues along this project.

B.

[bluegal12]

?Men are born to succeed, not fail." Thoreau
http://www.doyleraizner.com/Admiralty-Maritime-Law/Claims-Arising-From-the-BP-Oil-Spill.shtml

[bluegal12]

Hi, I am happy that i am already a member

[SoTxMedic]

WORKING IN SOUTH TX.AS A MEDIC, YOU REALLY BECOME AWARE OF WHICH BORDERS REALLY NEEDS PROTECTION.ATTN.FROM THE U.S.GOVERMENT.IT'S SAD BUT IT'S TRUE. IT'S RIGHT HERE IN OUR OWN HOMELAND AS A PRIORITY. THE GENERAL PUBLIC DOESN'T HAVE THE SLIGHTEST CLUE OF HOW OUR BORDER PATROL AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ARE SO OVERWHELMED BY THE VAST POPULATION OF IMMIGRANTS CROSSING OUR BORDERS. MORE UNANNOUNCED CHECK POINTS NEED TO BE PUT UP. THESE COYOTES (SMUGGLERS) TRAVEL IN PACKS, AND EVEN HAVE THEIR OWN LOOK OUTS, THAT TRAVEL AHEAD OF THE LOADED VECHICLES AND WARN THE DRIVERS IF THERE IS ANY TYPE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OUT ON THE ROADS DOING THEIR JOBS. GIVING THEM A HEADS UP SO THEY CAN EITHER GO AROUND ANOTHER ROUTE OR HOLD OFF,HIDE OR POSTPONE THE TRIP.OUR LAWMEN ARE TRYING THEIR BEST BUT MOST OF THE TIMES THEY ARE UNDERSTAFFED.AT TIMES, THE COUNTY DEPUTIES WHEN THEY MAKE A STOP THAY HAVE TO WAIT AT LEAST 45MINS TO AN HOUR AND A HALF FOR THE BORDER PATROL TO SHOW UP.GUARDING THE IMMIGRANTS TILL THEY ARE PICKED UP BY BORDER PATROL. AT TIMES YOU HAVE 10-15 BEING DETAINED AND SOME OF THEM JUST TAKE OFF RUNNING TO THE BRUSH VS. ONE DEPUTY AT SCENE WHAT IS HE TO DO ? TAKE OFF AFTER THEM? THAT'S AT LEAST ONE HR. THE ROADS WERE OUT OF ONE DEPUTY PATROLING OR FIGHTING CRIME. NOW THINK OF WHAT NATIONALITIES ARE SOME OF THESE PEOPLE COMING INTO THE COUNTRY. TERRORIST PERHAPS ? WE WILL NEVER KNOW. CAUSE THIS IS A BUSINESS DOWN HERE. FOR THE COYOTES EARNING AT LEAST $2000.00 PER HEAD ONCE THEY ARRIVE AT THEIR DESTINATION POINT. HOUSTON, BEING THE MOST POPULAR BY FAR.WHERE THEY GET A JOB THEN MOVE ON UP TO OTHER CITIES UP NORTH.BEING HISPANIC BORN AND RAISED HERE I CAN COMMUNICATE VERY WELL WITH SOME AND SEE WHERE THEY ARE COMING FROM.ITS SAD BUT TRUE !!!

[woodusnret]

For the billion dollars spent, Boeing could have used off the shelf equipment that has a proven track record. That being the drones presently used in the war on terror. For the total amount of money spent and to be spent, a drone could have a section of border 100 to 200 miles long and even overlapped by the adjacent drones (when needed) the entire length of the border. All drones could be controlled from one central location. That location could house the information center to sort "targets". In the field there could be command posts for sections of the border. This would have sub sections manned by border patrol agents with with aircraft, helicopters and land vehicles to catch the intruders. This would negate the constant patrolling of the 2000+ miles. (a tremendous savings of fuel, wear and tear on vehicles and personnel). The command center would assign assests to maintain contact (much the way commercial aitcraft are assigned radar IDs) until air and land assests apprehend and confirm the targets. The use of visual, infra red and other technologies such as TDL and streaming info could be used. There are smarter people than I and I am sure they could come with with a command and control plan that would satisfy the border patrols needs. I am pretty sure there are systems available that function in the heat, cold and lovely conditions of Iraq and Afganistan that would work in the southwest. However before any plan is considered, please ask the guys doing the job what the need.

[tobobm]

One other comment had to do with the use of drones. I don't know why this proven visual technique hasn't been employed at the Mexican border. It's efficient, available and would cost far less than the tower program that is still in development, slowly, costly, and unproven.

tobobm

[marytattoo]

management has never listened to the worker. management makes stupid decisions all of the time and the worker (i.e. border patrol) is supposed to live with the consequences. dad always said it is the "boss/employee" syndrome. so the boss (government) comes up with a GREAT IDEA. and as usual, the boss' idea is silly. i mean, come on -- the border patrol using laptops while bouncing around the desert? i lose a cell signal in my house -- imagine the desert. and don't get me started on the "safety" issues of using a laptop while driving. "they" want people to use a laptop while driving? and we can't text? how ironic!

[bbizman99]

If you want a project millions over budget for something that uses way too much technology and doesn't accomplish the mission....hire Boeing. Boeing has a history for only hiring Ivy league grads and overqualified engineers, and turning out hardware millions over budget and years behind schedule.

Another white elephant from the Boeing company.

[dragon8me]

Ah, the military industrial complex at work again. The idea's not a bad one but they could buy the components cheaper and do the work in-house for a fraction of the price. Government contractors do create jobs but when you steal from the people, as the anti-health care crowd likes to say, you do more harm than good. First, private contractors are a dangerous concept. Fascism is corporateism. You get a lot closer to that when private companies are performing government functions. The people have no oversite. If the government isn't doing a good job we can throw a fit till they listen. It's the numbers that force change. We have the numbers for a lot of change. Ending prohibition for one. The government works for us, not the othere way around. We can make it work for us if we come together on what we agree and have a senceable debate on the others, but throwing mud is so much more fun, only it just stops progress because we're too diverted.

[myopinionpal]

The border can be gaurded here's how place land mines along the border place guard towers one mile apart along the border and man each
watch station with troops from Ft. Hood and Ft.Bliss and rotate them out with other troops and national guard units from across the country with orders to shoot to kill. This works very well along the DMZ that divides North and South Korea.