The US 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.
A virtual fence being built by Boeing along the Mexico border is being delayed by US Customs and Border Protection, which is set on getting a physical fence in place.
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 US-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, US 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 US-Mexico border.
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