The reasons for the current decline in border crossing arrests cannot be determined. Authorities are unsure if the reasons are because of the downturn in the American economy or because of the new fence. Most think that fewer arrests are because of the recession and lack of jobs in the United States making border crossing less desirable.
Meanwhile, the effort to secure the border has fallen behind 7 years, according to government sources. The cost of the project is also way up, over a billion dollars to complete. Maintainence costs once the project has been completed are also billions higher.
Problems like trembling cameras are plaguing those responsible for completion. Meanwhile, determined immigrants continue to vandalize the existing fence. The 28 miles of high tech border security are rife with problems.
According to the New York Times, various woes facing completion of this project are as follows:
The report, by the Government Accountability Office, Congress’s watchdog, said the department had fallen about seven years behind its goal of putting in place the technology the Bush administration had heavily promoted when it announced the Secure Border Initiative in 2005.
In 2006, the report said, the department estimated it would have a system of cameras, radars and sensors in place to aid a force of border guards by the end of 2009, but the completion date is now projected as 2016.
“Flaws found in testing and concerns about the impact of placing towers and access roads in environmentally sensitive locations caused delays,” said Richard M. Stana, an author of the report. The cameras and radars, a “virtual fence” in a system designed by the contractor, Boeing, have fallen prey to weather and mechanical problems.
The effort to build 661 miles of fences blocking vehicles or pedestrians is nearly complete, but with 28 miles left to go, it has been delayed by lawsuits from landowners in Texas.
The government has spent $2.4 billion on such “physical infrastructure,” but the report said it could cost $6.5 billion over 20 years to maintain it.
For all the money spent, the department has not set up a way to evaluate the fences’ impact, relying mainly on the judgment of senior Border Patrol agents.
There is no way to guage the effectiveness of the fence already completed because of security breaches, change in the actual number of attempted border crossings. Meanwhile, Congress must address these issues rather than sticking their respective heads in the sand.
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