Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, right, accompanied by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, gestures during a news conference on the state of immigration, Monday, June 9, 2008, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Posted on 06/09/2008 1:05:54 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government has decided to award Boeing contracts for the construction of two sections of a high-tech fence to be built along the border with Mexico in Arizona, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Monday.
The two fence sections would be an "operational configuration" of a much-criticized 28-mile (45-km) section of "virtual fence" built by Boeing and tested earlier, Chertoff told a news conference.
He said the fence would include fixed towers, with radar sensors, remote control cameras, ground sensors and software linking border agents to give them a "common operating picture" of the areas they are enforcing.
Chertoff dismissed earlier reports of deep trouble with the test section, which had been delayed by several months due to technical problems, including communications and software glitches and fuzzy video images.
At the news conference, called to give an update on U.S. immigration and immigration-control programs, Chertoff also said the government would require all federal contractors to participate in an electronic system to verify that employees are not illegal immigrants.
Illegal immigration has been a simmering issue in this year's presidential campaign. Some Republicans have criticized the party's candidate, Sen. John McCain, for not being tough enough against illegal immigration, while McCain has criticized the virtual fence's problems as a disgrace.
Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama has suggested high-tech controls could minimize the need for physical fencing.
Chertoff said he expected that efforts to control immigration to be fully successful, as defined by the government, by "sometime in 2011."
theres the perfect reason to build a WALL
Virtual fence? Waste of time and money. A tv camera ain’t gonna stop anybody.
A virtual fence? To stop what, virtual illeagles? With that kind of title I was hoping for a laser cannon or two with perhaps a pinpoint M60 every 400 meters.
Cinder Blocks, Barbed Wire and Land Mines would be cheaper.
Wow, they’re sure jumping all over this. Wit any luck, they should have it finished in 300 years.
After taunting the camera some desert desperado will steal it.
I feeel for all the displaced native animals and such a heckuva lot more than the human wave from south of the border.
At least we should have good photos of them as they cross. :-)
I thought the latest report a few months back was that the “virtual fence” was a huge waste of money that would never work. Not that we’re surprised.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, right, accompanied by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, gestures during a news conference on the state of immigration, Monday, June 9, 2008, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
“Chertoff dismissed earlier reports of deep trouble with the test section”
Did he also dismiss the reports of Boeing subcontractors hiring illegals?
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=b6fbd5b2185f3b7e4a18990da8b850ca
.
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, right, accompanied by
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, gestures during a news conference
on the state of immigration, Monday, June 9, 2008, in Washington.
(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Come on, not even Boeing can make a virtual fence along the US/Mex border fly!
ping
Gee, I feel safer already.....don’t you? /sarc/
BOEING?! LOL!
im sure the ranchers down along the mex border will sleep good tonight :)
Can’t beat 100,000 pairs of human eyes.
I think some of the big ranchers are against the fence. At least where it cuts across their property and cuts them off to their water. I believe a lot of the fence is tied up in lawsuits regarding property rights.
The virtual fence is also a way around all of the environmental laws and lawsuits.
Now if they could only get the seismic and motion sensors rigged up to a .50 caliber. Or perhaps Predator fly-overs.
A virtual fence isn’t going to cut it. Any candidate that tries to tell me they support the virtual fence and does nothing to make that fence a physical fence will not get my attention or vote. I’m tired of being sold out by meaningless platitudes by compromised Republicans. McCain has already earned my contempt on immigration issue.
personally ive always thought bear traps would work really well
It was included in a GAO report. The article on it was posted here on FR and discussed at some length as I recall.
Not to worry, this will only last until Nov 5th.
Exactly correct. The virtual fence has a "political" fix applied and now work "politically" perfect.
Two words: mine fields
Yes. But it didn’t comport with W’s agenda and associated world-view...so it has been ignored. The original plan is still on track to put up a phoney fence.
Virtual ping!
If you want on, or off this S. Texas/Mexico ping list, please FReepMail me.
Hey why don't we just have a virtual president too? We could put all their names to characters and choose who we wanted in different scenarios.
Project 28 failed its test; and both Boeing and Chertoff know it. What a load of crap.
Well, that's fine, but believing it doesn't make it true. The lawsuits are about allowing surveyors to access private property enroute to survey points for the fence. And they haven't stopped fence construction, since Chertoff waived the environmental impact requirements for fence construction.
suuuuure as soon as congress has a virtual fence.
As one agent said to me, “All TV cameras do is let us count how many get away.” A little exaggeration, since they can be helpful sometimes, but in many cases it’s all too true.
That's just sick.
I had posted this on the thread called “Bush inks bill on immigrant workers” (or something like that), but is relevent here as it talks about the lawsuits. And I didn’t know about the waiving of the environmental rules - thanks.
But I am curious. I bring up something about the fence being tied up in lawsuits which you say is false. Then you say the lawsuits are about surveying for the fence route. How has this not stopped (and hopefully just slowed)construction of the fence if the folks won’t even allow them on their property where the fence is supposed to go?
Anyway - here’s from my other post:
Here’s some snips from an article in a Dallas paper talking about the land owner issues in Texas. They do mention that 303 miles of fence have been built. Not sure what the quality of the fence is (single, double, vehicle barriers, etc.)
Also - I was surprised to see that only 670 miles of fence was called for by Congress. That leaves what - 1,653 more miles of open border?
OTOH- Duncan’s fence did cut down on the illegals, crime, drugs, etc. in San Diego where his fence was built. I’m not sure why they just don’t go around the fence and still settle in San Diego. Perhaps it was tougher there all the way around, and no need to travel the extra miles just to be at greater risk of getting caught.
********
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/031608dntexborderfence.c243b3.html
02:07 PM CDT on Sunday, March 16, 2008
McALLEN, Texas – South Texas landowners fighting border fence surveys have gained traction in court and could keep the federal government from meeting Congress’ demand for 670 miles of Mexican border fencing by the end of the year.......
The Justice Department has sued more than 50 property owners in Texas this year – a total of 75 along the whole U.S.-Mexico border – after the owners refused to allow workers onto their property for preliminary work such as surveys.
No Texas judge has ruled in favor of the landowners, but a recent ruling from U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen ordered the government to first try to negotiate the price of access with landowners.
The Department of Homeland Security has won access in 35 of those cases, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Most of the nearly 500 property owners in the fence’s path gave voluntary access to their land and as of Feb. 21, 303 miles of fencing had been built.
Communities along the Rio Grande in South Texas have fought hardest. They fear being cut off from the river and agricultural lands and bristle at the imposition of a plan hatched in Washington, D.C. .....
Hanen, a Bush appointee, has slowed the government considerably from its preferred pace. He has repeatedly denied government motions for immediate access and instead held hearings for property owners to voice their concerns before ultimately siding with the government.......
On March 7, in a 32-page ruling produced after a month of deliberation, Hanen gave the federal government two weeks to prove it had made a bona fide effort to negotiate a price for temporary access to Cameron County landowner Eloisa Tamez’s property.....
The federal government offered $100 Tuesday to Tamez through her attorney, Peter Schey, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law. For that, the government would have gotten six months of access to Tamez’s one acre, a remaining piece of a Spanish land grant to her family in El Calaboz. But Schey said they will not agree upon a price until the government defines access. Will it be unintrusive surveying or will a house on the property have to be torn down or moved? ...........
“I’m anticipating that the (Tamez) standard is going to be the universal standard and (Hanen) will apply it to all the cases,” said G. Allen Ramirez, attorney for the Rio Grande City Consolidated Independent School District. The district sits on a 132-acre campus that extends to the Rio Grande and the fence is likely to cut through its property......
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