Recent news reports suggest the US Border Patrol has secured new technology that has the ability to "see" for up to 10 miles away and scan 180 degrees in about 10 seconds." The hype says "the system detected about 40,000 potential undocumented immigrants in the last three months of 2008." The key word here is "potential." In reality, the system has many bugs. Reports indicate it cannot tell the difference between a human vs a prairie dog. For $500,000 a tower, you would think the technology would better serve the Department of Homeland Security. On the other hand, many on the ANTI side are opposing the new technology, especially the unmanned drones. They are saying this type of technology is one step away from "Big Brother." Who is to stop DHS from spying on good ole US neighborhoods they wonder.
I am a bit torn on the subject.
I agree that in this age of potential terroristic threats, we do need security on all borders, ports and terminals. I say ALL because we should not focus on just the southern border, but all borders, ports and terminals!
I also agree that we should use technology vs a 2000 mile border fence. I don't believe we should give our civil liberties away, however. So, who is to say what is the right answer?
The other down side of the story is that we are allowing one vendor, Boeing - as SBInet, to manage the project. This raises the question, are we contracting away our nation's security to the highest bidding contractor? Remember the bad experiences we've had with Blackwater and Halliburton.
My only hope is the new DHS, under Janet Napolitano, will be open enough to let us every day Americans know what is going on and have the ability to provide our input on whether policies are working or not working. Additionally, she should prevent this program from turning into "Big Brother."
Since it appears this program is well underway, all we can do at this point is wait and see.
References:
SBInet , Boeing wikipedia
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