A Nation Divided: the Border Wall, Immigration and Citizenship on the U.S. Mexico Border

Now that DHS has cut funding for the construction of a virtual wall, SBI-net,  it is worth revisiting the optimism about the project expressed in 2007.

• The virtual wall would use existing technologies, therefore keeping costs down.
• It would only require the construction of 1,800 towers to secure both borders.
• UAVs would augment tower surveillance, this includes a hand launched UAV called Skylark supplied by Elibt systems of Haifa, Israel.
• Seismic sensors would detect ground movement, including footsteps and vehicles.
• Border patrol agents, with laptops, will be alerted to border crossings through a satellite communication network.

With these promises it is easy to see how SBI-net funding was authorized.  In addition, as our survey shows, border residents favor virtual walls over physical walls because they are less intrusive.  What remains to be seen is what the next big ticket request will be for border security—at this point it appears more national guard troops.

For more information see: http://electronicdesign.com/article/communications/building-a-virtual-wall-to-protect-our-borders1603/2.aspx

This entry was posted on Monday, January 24th, 2011 at 4:10 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.