James Carafano has been blogging on the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 鈥溾 this week on his trip to our southern border. Carafano has been mighty impressed with all the potential benefits of increased border security. Specifically, Carafano believes it will protect the environment, even though has warned that the erection of a border fence will have 鈥溾 effects on wildlife, clean water and clean air in the region. He's also convinced it will reduce human fatalities, even though over 200 people on the border each year, mostly from exposure, while the rate of illegal immigration remains steady.
But is a real humdinger. Titled 鈥淰irtual Fences Can Help Make Real Good Neighbors,鈥 it praises the rollout of 鈥淧roject 28,鈥 part of the Department of Homeland Security鈥檚 initiative to create a 鈥渧irtual fence鈥 of video surveillance, motion sensors and other nifty gadgets along 28 miles of the Arizona-Mexico border. But as the and reported in February, Project 28 has been an utter fiasco. None of the technology has worked, and DHS decided to scrap the pilot project (they are now trying again with newer, fancier equipment).
However, even if the technology had worked, it鈥檚 not clear the program would have. Residents of ., an unincorporated town nearby on of Project 28鈥檚 video surveillance towers, complained that while DHS reported the tower鈥檚 field of vision was only about 10 miles, the agency had placed it right next to the town, which happens to be 12 miles from the border. The potential for the federal government to spy on American citizens was real; the impact on border security, not so much.
But forget the fact that Project 28 is a complete boondoggle for a moment (Carafano admits that in addition to suffering from 鈥渂ad publicity,鈥 nobody at DHS bothered to ask the Border Patrol what they actually needed). The virtual fence is also one of the largest government gravy trains out there, and the main beneficiary has been Boeing Corp. Boeing got the original contract to install Project 28, and despite its failure to build something that works for more that $860 million in taxpayer dollars, DHS keeps offering the company new contracts. Just , it was announced that Boeing would be asked to build on its 鈥渆xperience鈥 with Project 28 to construct two new sections of virtual fence in Arizona and Michigan.
Now to return to our friends at Heritage: Why would a think tank that advocates for limited government, free enterprise and strong national defense support a program that is massively expensive to taxpayers, invades the privacy of local residents, and amounts to a handout to a company that has repeatedly failed to secure our borders? A massive buildup of surveillance technology at the is the kind of cash cow that fiscal conservatives and civil libertarians should be united in opposing. We鈥檙e eagerly waiting to welcome our friends at Heritage to the right side of the (virtual) fence.