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Bordering on inanity

By Tony Blankley
March 5, 2008

Over a year ago, Congress passed a law to spend over $7 billion to build a fence to secure our Mexican border. Less than two weeks ago, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced at a news conference that a high-tech "virtual fence" project on part of the U.S. border with Mexico was finally ready for service, and that the technology that was a substitute for an actual physical fence — you know, cement, barbed wire, watch towers, moats.

The secretary was very specific. He said: "I have personally witnessed the value of the system, and I have spoken directly to border patrol agents ... who have seen it produce actual results, in terms of identifying and allowing the apprehension of people who were illegally smuggling across the border." The so-called Project 28 virtual fence was built near Nogales, Ariz. The $20 million project of sensor towers and advanced mobile communications was supposed to be ready by mid-2007, but was delayed by software problems.

Some of us want a regular, real physical fence. But the White House assured us that a virtual fence would be better. And, by the way, both Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in last week's debate said they were for the virtual fence-which in their view might obviate the need for a physical fence.

So Mr. Chertoff's announcement less than two weeks ago was good news. But only five days later, the media reported that the Bush administration has scaled back plans to quickly build a virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, delaying completion of that first 28-mile phase by at least three years and shifting away from a network of tower-mounted sensors and surveillance gear.

Technical problems in the same 28-mile project that Mr. Chertoff had personally vouchsafed just five days before were cited by Homeland Security Department officials as the reason for the three-year delay — which, let me remind you, the secretary had said just five days before it was ready to go operational.

So, instead of starting the promised for partially funded border fence on President Bush's watch, as he promised; his new plans provide for the first 28 miles of the 2,000-mile fence to be started in the third year of the next presidency. I guess he never really wanted to build that fence.

But Mr. Chertoff did promise to "double the fleet" of our unmanned surveillance aircraft-from three to six for 2,000 miles of border.

About 75 percent of the public wants our border secured. I guess that does not include the president — nor the Democratic Party candidates looking to replace him.

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