U.S. to Turn Focus To Physical Barrier As Boeing StrugglesThe U.S. Customs and Border Protection is putting off plans for a virtual fence being built by Boeing Co. along the Mexico border and instead will focus on getting a physical fence in place as it tries to implement a border-security plan that is already late and over budget.
Both the virtual and the physical fences were the anchors of a 2005 Bush administration plan called the Secure Border Initiative. But the plan to secure the U.S.-Mexico border has been plagued by cost overruns and delays and has come in for withering criticism from Congress.
Boeing has struggled to overcome technical problems on its virtual fence, part of a contract called SBInet that also includes physical fences. The virtual-fence system was first tested on a 28-mile stretch that was originally planned to be ready more than a year ago; it isn't operational.
The Boeing system was supposed to let Border Patrol agents handle more territory with the help of a series of towers capable of electronically monitoring rough stretches of the border.
According to Jayson Ahern, U.S. Customs and Border Protection deputy commissioner, the highest priority is to put out a system of physical fences and barriers that will keep people and vehicles from illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
"I think it speaks to the priority that we put on the tactical infrastructure," said Mr. Ahern in an interview. "Too much attention has been put on SBInet and that technological development." The debut of the virtual fence's first section is expected next year.
The physical fence is also overbudget and needs $400 million more than is budgeted, according to people familiar with the situation. As costs climb, the department is seeking to redirect funding from other programs, including the virtual fence, toward the physical barrier.
The project is expected to face a new round of congressional scrutiny today during a hearing of the House Committee on Homeland Security. In a statement to be delivered at the hearing, Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.) said, "Regrettably, the partnership between [the Department of Homeland Security] and Boeing has produced far more missed deadlines and excuses than results. I am convinced that DHS and Boeing grossly underestimated the task of standing up SBInet."
The Government Accountability Office has reviewed the virtual fence and is slated to deliver its assessment at today's hearing, as well. In his testimony, Richard Stana, the GAO's director of homeland security and justice issues, is expected to say that any more setbacks could jeopardize the U.S.'s ability to effectively patrol the border. "Further delays of SBInet technology deployments may hinder the Border Patrol's efforts to secure the border," according to a prepared statement from Mr. Stana.
A Boeing spokeswoman said the Chicago company had been asked to stand down on its work in July for reasons not related to cost or performance. At the time, there were environmental-review issues for placing the virtual fence's towers. Mr. Ahern expects that to be resolved shortly.
The 670-mile physical fence consists of 370 miles of wire-mesh barriers intended to stop people and 300 miles of shorter barriers designed to stop vehicles. The GAO estimates that costs for the wire-mesh fence have risen to $7.5 million a mile, about $3.5 million a mile more than initially expected. As of August, 187 miles of the wire-mesh fence had been completed.
Congress already has appropriated $2.7 billion for both the physical and virtual fences.
When Boeing won the SBInet contract in September 2006, it planned a network of off-the-shelf technologies that would be a powerful surveillance system that could rival what the military uses. But troubles with the fencing systems have raised questions about the feasibility of effectively securing the porous border. The delays also mean that the next presidential administration will have to decide whether to press ahead with the system, or even scrap it.
Boeing's virtual-fence work started off small with a $20 million task order, but costs ballooned. The DHS's own inspector general has cautioned in the past that the SBInet contract's cost could more than triple from current estimates of some $8 billion through 2013.
Boeing has gotten about $933 million for its work under a series of task orders for the contract.
By: August Cole
Wall Street Journal; September 10, 2008
