A failed fence

Friday, April 25, 2008 | 2:05 a.m.

The federal government is ditching the $20 million prototype “virtual fence” that was at the center of its protection plans along the Arizona-Mexico border because the system fails to alert border patrol agents of illegal crossings in a timely manner.

Just two months ago Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said he approved of the 28-mile fence’s being installed by Boeing, even as officials from his department and from the Government Accountability Office told a House subcommittee that the system’s sensors did not work properly or gather data in the manner Border Patrol agents needed.

In defending the failed system back in February, Chertoff said federal officials would “take elements” of the virtual fence and use them elsewhere. Still, the GAO said, the project’s design “would not be used as the basis” for future border barriers.

On Wednesday the Associated Press reported that Boeing will be replacing the entire system with new towers, communications systems, cameras and radar.

The overall plan for securing the nation’s borders includes physical barriers and technological detection systems first along the Mexican border and eventually along the Canadian border, the AP reports. The canceled prototype was part of an $860 million contract to develop and install the technology and physical barriers.

As we noted in an editorial in February, Boeing charged $20 million for installing the computer software to track illegal crossings and, when it didn’t work, Boeing was paid $65 million to replace it. And now federal officials have finally acknowledged it still doesn’t work.

We can only hope that once we have a new president in the White House in January we will get a plan for securing America’s borders without wasting tens of millions of taxpayers’ dollars.