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U.S. officials say 'virtual fence' at border is faulty, needs work

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WASHINGTON — The Bush administration outlined plans Thursday to begin operating portions of a high-tech "virtual fence" along the Southwest border later this year and strongly disputed news reports that a 28-mile pilot project to test the technology was largely a failure.

Top officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection also said they're on track to complete hundreds of miles of traditional fencing by the end of the year.

But they acknowledged that disputes with Texas landowners could endanger their timetable.

CPB, a branch of the Department of Homeland Security, is charged with overseeing the construction of 670 miles of pedestrian and vehicle barriers to comply with a two-year-old congressional mandate.

Congress also has authorized the virtual fence — an array of sensors, cameras and other high-tech surveillance — to complement the physical barriers.

Appearing before a congressional subcommittee, CBP Commissioner Ralph Basham and other agency officials sought to assure lawmakers that the projects were moving forward despite recent press disclosures that the pilot project in Arizona, known as Project 28, was riddled with flaws.

Basham, saying the press accounts were wrong, acknowledged that the $20 million program had sustained early setbacks.

But he said the project rebounded after the contractor, Boeing, spent its own money to correct most of the deficiencies.

The project includes towers with cameras and radar designed to spot illegal border-crossers and convey the data to a command center miles away.

Greg Giddens, the executive director of CBP's Secure Border Initiative, said the agency plans to deploy similar technology at two other sites this summer.

After evaluating the performance at the two sites, the agency plans to expand operations in September, depending on the amount of funding available.

One of the test sites will be in Arizona, Giddens said; the other hasn't been determined.

The CBP officials also said they're standing behind Boeing as the contractor and early bugs in the program were understandable in implementing a new system.

Nevertheless, members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security displayed signs of impatience as they pressed the CBP officials for progress reports on the fencing projects and other border security initiatives.

Richard Stana, an official with the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, testified that Boeing developed Project 28 "with very little input" from the Border Patrol.