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Border Patrol Controls Fraction of US Borders |
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by Mickey McCarter
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Monday, 04 May 2009 |
Spending plan reveals less than 1/3 of southern border, almost none of northern border under control
Progress in gaining "effective control" of US borders has progressed slowly leaving US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) with confidence that it can stop the flow of illegal aliens and contraband into the United States along only a fraction of the borders, according to a report from congressional investigators.
As of Sept. 30, 2008, the Secure Border Initiative (SBI) Program Office submitted that CBP had control over 625 miles of the US southwest border and 31 miles of the US northern border along with 101 coastal miles. The US southern border with Mexico is about 2,000 miles long while the border between the continental United States and Canada is about 4,000 miles long.
The information was included in a briefing from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to Congress, titled "US Customs and Border Protection's Secure Border Initiative Fiscal Year 2009 Expenditure Plan" and published April 30. GAO conducted a review of the expenditure plan to determine if the plan itself met specific requirements established by Congress in the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act of 2009.
To date, a total of $3.6 billion has been appropriated for the SBI program, according to the briefing. SBI funding peaked in 2008 at $1.3 billion but dipped to $775 million in fiscal 2009. Congress withheld $400 million of SBI funding for 2009 until a review of the expenditure plan submitted by the SBI office on March 4.
Of 12 specific requirements in the 2009 appropriations bill, GAO found that the SBI expenditure plan met only three of them, while partially fulfilling the others. For example, the plan did not fully describe how CBP had gained "effective control" of US borders through use of SBI technology such as cameras and sensors or through use of tactical infrastructure such as vehicle and pedestrian fencing.
The report did describe 11 task orders awarded to The Boeing Co. of Chicago, Ill., as of Nov. 28, 2008, under the SBInet program. Those 11 task orders carried a contract value of roughly $970 million.
The SBI Program Office reports show the program has sparked progress in obtaining effective control of US borders. In fiscal 2005, the first year spending was reported for the program, the US Border Patrol had effective control over only 241 miles of the US southwest border, for example, as compared to 625 in fiscal 2008.
Progress along the US northern border, where northern state congressional delegations have called for more action, has been even slower with 12 border miles under effective control in fiscal 2005 and 31 in 2008.
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Mickey McCarter |
| About the author: |
| eNewsletter Editor/Senior Washington Correspondent,
is a journalist with more than a decade of experience in reporting
on
military affairs and information technology.
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