The nation’s first Secretary of Homeland Security says the border can be secured using commercially available technologies, and that the Department of Homeland Security’s failed multibillion-dollar contract with Boeing Co. to build an electronic border fence ran counter to the legislation that created the DHS in the first place.
Tom Ridge, who served in that role under President George W. Bush, recently praised the Department of Homeland Security for putting an end in January to Boeing Co.’s multibillion-dollar contract for the Secure Border Initiative (SBInet). After nearly five years and $1 billion in taxpayer funding, the deal netted a mere 28-mile prototype and a 53-mile permanent segment of electronic sensors in Arizona. According to Ridge, the effort failed in large part because it did not leverage commercially available technology. Keep reading →