BAD INVESTMENT

U.S. to Defund Virtual Border Project

Meant to keep high-tech watch on Mexico.

The Department of Homeland Security has in all likelihood decided to abandon a project calling for an invisible, virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border designed to monitor and prevent human trafficking, drug smuggling, and illegal immigration. The U.S. will not exercise a one-year option with Boeing on the project, which involves high-tech cameras, radar, and vibration sensors, instead extending the deal only to mid-November. Although the U.S. has spent over $1 billion on it as part of the $4.4 billion Secure Border Initiative, the result is only 53 miles of unreliable coverage along the almost 2,000-mile border. The system has been plagued by sensitive alarms that can be triggered by even tumbleweed, as well as missed deadlines by Boeing.