A pilot project to test a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border has been riddled with technical problems. Completion of the project's first phase will be delayed by at least three years. The virtual fence pilot project covers 28 miles of the border, south of Tucson.
Boeing got nearly $21 million to design the pilot, called "Project 28". The company used off-the-shelf components that didn't work as planned to detect illegal aliens coming into this country.
The virtual border is a series of towers that have sensors on them — radar sensors and optical sensors — that detect movement across the border. It was planned to allow the border control command post to focus in on the movements without a physical barrier in place.
Richard M. Stana, director of homeland security and justice issues for the Government Accountability Office, tells Melissa Block that the government hopes to learn from the mistakes that have plagued the program.
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