The Department of Homeland Security canceled a project to build a technology-based “virtual fence” across the Southwest border, saying that the effort was ineffective and too costly.
DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said she had decided to end the five-year-old project, known as SBI-Net, because it “does not meet current standards for viability and cost effectiveness.” In a statement, Napolitano said border agents would instead use less expensive technology that is already part of their surveillance equipment, tailoring it to the specific terrain where they will be scouting for illegal border crossers and drug traffickers.