Rep. Calvert Calls Virtual Fence a Real Failure

Press Release

Congressional Testimony Reveals Virtual Fence a Flop

Today Congressman Calvert (R-CA) voiced his frustration in response to testimony last week by Richard M. Stana of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) who told Congress that the first 28 mile stretch of virtual fence in Arizona is non-operable and over-budget.

"Once again the Department of Homeland Security refuses to acknowledge the will of Congress, as stated in the Secure Fence Act of 2006, that we must have physical fencing and barriers along our southern border," said Rep. Calvert. "The 14 miles of double-layer fencing in San Diego demonstrates the effectiveness of an actual fence and DHS should stop wasting taxpayer money for an unproven system."

GAO reported that DHS has spent $20 million on the failed virtual fence and much of the equipment will have to be replaced at taxpayers' additional expense. The first phase of the virtual fence, a 100-mile section ending in El Paso, was supposed to be deployed at the end of 2008 but is now expected to take another three years.

According to the Washington Post:

"The pilot virtual fence included nine mobile towers, radar, cameras, and vehicles retrofitted with laptops and satellite phones or handheld devices. They were to be linked to a near-real-time, maplike projection of the frontier that agents could use to track targets and direct law enforcement resources. GAO investigators said that Boeing's software could not process large amounts of sensor data. The resulting delays made it hard for operators in a Tucson command center 65 miles to the north to lock cameras on targets. Radar systems were also triggered inadvertently by rain and other environmental factors. Cameras had trouble resolving images at five kilometers when they were expected to work at twice that distance, Stana said.

He added that the system was developed with "minimal input" from Border Patrol agents, resulting in an unworkable "demonstration project" instead of a operating pilot system. He blamed the DHS for acting too hastily in trying to deliver a working pilot by last June.

The effort produced "a product that did not fully meet user needs, and the project's design will not be used as the basis for future . . . development," Stana testified, adding that the DHS plans to replace most of the components." (Washington Post, 2/28/08).

"American taxpayers, who overwhelmingly support the border fence, should not have their hard-earned money wasted on untested virtual fencing when we have an alternative that delivers results: the physical two-layer fence," said Rep. Calvert.

Source