Associated Press | Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Tuesday that she will freeze funds for expanding the virtual fence that originally was supposed to monitor most of the 2,000-mile southern U.S. border by 2011 but now covers only a portion of Arizona’s boundary with Mexico.

The virtual fence is a network of cameras, ground sensors and radars designed to let a small number of dispatchers watch the border on a computer monitor, zoom in with cameras to see people crossing, and decide whether to send Border Patrol agents to the scene.

A string of technical glitches and delays has put the virtual fence in
jeopardy. Two months ago, Napolitano ordered a reassessment of the
project that has thus far cost the government $672 million.

“Not only do we have an obligation to secure our borders, we have a
responsibility to do so in the most cost effective way possible,”
Napolitano said in a statement, which didn’t specify the amount of
funding that would be frozen. The funds will be frozen until the
project’s reassessment is completed.

Napolitano also plans to redirect $50 million from the Arizona portion
to pay for radios, cameras, thermal-imaging devices and other technology
that would be used at the border but wouldn’t be strung together in the
vastly networked way envisioned for the virtual fence.

U.S. Sen. John McCain, a Republican from Arizona, applauded that
decision, saying he was pleased that “Napolitano has decided to instead
turn to commercial available technology that can be used to immediately
secure our border from illegal entries. I have been calling for
congressional oversight and administrative action on this issue since it
became clear that SBInet was a complete failure.”

The fence is known within the government as SBInet.

U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who leads the House Homeland Security
Committee, called the project an expensive disappointment.

“Today’s announcement is a recognition that this troubled program needs
better management and stronger oversight,” the Mississippi Democrat said
in a statement.

Among other problems, the radar system had trouble distinguishing
between vegetation and people when the weather was windy. The satellite
communication system took too long to relay information in the field to a
command center; by the time an operator moved a camera to take a closer
look at a spot, whatever had raised suspicion was gone.

The first permanent segment of the virtual fence — a 23-mile
stretch near Sasabe, Ariz. — was supposed to be turned over to
the Border Patrol by the main contractor, Boeing Co., for testing in
January. The handover was delayed by problems involving video recording
equipment. Testing is continuing on that section of virtual fence.

Construction on a second 30-mile permanent section south of Ajo, Ariz.,
is still expected to be completed in August.

A 28-mile prototype virtual fence has been in use in southern Arizona
for two years, but that stretch will be replaced by the first permanent
section.

The virtual fence was developed as part of then-President George W.
Bush’s border security plan. It was meant to add another layer of
protection at the border, along with thousands of Border Patrol agents
and 650 miles of real fences.

Originally, the virtual fence was supposed to be completed by 2011; that
date has slipped to 2014, largely because of technical problems.

Both Boeing and the government officials said the technical problems
stemmed from an erroneous belief that the first-of-its-kind virtual
fence could be put together relatively quickly by tying together
off-the-shelf components that weren’t designed to be linked.

Homeland Security officials have said the government shares blame with
the contractor for the delays in the virtual fence.