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Arizona Lawmaker Wants $30 Million For 'Virtual Fence'

Arizona Lawmaker Wants $30 Million For 'Virtual Fence'
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National Reporter, HuffPost

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FILE - In this Thursday, June 19, 2008 file photo, a U.S. Border Patrol truck parks along the US-Mexico border in Nogales, Ariz. Two senators said Tuesday, April 20, 2010 it's time to consider ending a contract for a "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border, contending it doesn't stop illegal immigration. Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., even suggested an old-fashioned, real fence may work better than the electronic one designed by Boeing Co. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, file)

PHOENIX — An Arizona legislator wants the state to spend $30 million for a high-tech surveillance network near the U.S. border with Mexico.

Sen. Bob Worsley, R-Mesa, said the "virtual fence" consisting of 200 radar-camera units would monitor cross-border movement by people and vehicles to see if the federal government keeps its promises to secure the border.

"My proposal is just to monitor," Worsley said. "Trust but verify."

Read more on Arizona Daily Star

Before You Go

6 Misconceptions About The Border
The U.S.-Mexico border is violent(01 of06)
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It certainly is in some places, but those don't tend to be on the U.S. side. In fact, El Paso, Texas and San Diego, California are the two safest cities in the country, according to Congressional Quarterly. While Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has repeatedly said the border in her state is dangerous, crime statistics reported by USA Today and The Huffington Post show that violent crime has dropped along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona, as well as California, New Mexico and Texas. (credit:AP)
The porous U.S.-Mexico border is vulnerable to terrorists(02 of06)
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That’s not the assessment of the U.S. government. The Mexico section of the most recent State Department's Country Reports on Terrorism reads:
No known international terrorist organization had an operational presence in Mexico and no terrorist group targeted U.S. citizens in or from Mexican territory. There was no evidence of ties between Mexican criminal organizations and terrorist groups, nor that the criminal organizations had political or territorial control, aside from seeking to protect and expand the impunity with which they conduct their criminal activity.
H/T: Washington Office on Latin America. (credit:In this photo provided by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a silver Jeep Cherokee that suspected smugglers were attempting to drive over the U.S.-Mexico border fence is stuck at the top of a makeshift ramp early Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 near Yuma, )
The border is insecure(03 of06)
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Depends on how you define "secure." By practically all measurements, the border is at its most secure point in recent history. There's more than 20,000 Border Patrol agents stationed along the border now -- about double the number since 2004. Apprehensions along the border, one of the most reliable measures of illegal entry, are at their lowest level in 40 years. But politicians have yet to agree on how to define what "secure" will mean for legal purposes. (credit:In this Sept. 4, 2012, photo, Max Pons, manager of the Nature Conservancy's southernmost preserve, walks past the U.S.-Mexico border fence in Brownsville, Texas. (AP))
Obama has been soft on enforcement(04 of06)
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Not so. In fact, it's one of the biggest gripes immigration activists have with him. While Obama has exempted many people who came to the United States as children from deportation, he has also set records, deporting over 400,000 people last fiscal year and removing more migrants in one term than George W. Bush did in two. (credit:A group of undocumented immigrants wait in line while being deported to Mexico at the Nogales Port of Entry in Nogales, Ariz., Wednesday, July 28, 2010. (AP))
The U.S. hasn't committed enough resources to securing the border(05 of06)
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Again, depends on who you ask. The $18 billion the federal government spent on border enforcement in the 2012 fiscal year was more than it spent on than on other law enforcement agencies combined, according to the Migration Policy Institute -- about 15 times more than it did in the mid-1980s. Is that enough, especially in a context in which illegal immigration stands at net zero? If, not, what is? (credit:In this Aug. 9, 2012 file photo, a U.S. Border Patrol vehicle keeps watch along the border fence in Nogales, Ariz. (AP))
Illegal immigration continues to skyrocket(06 of06)
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Nope. For all the talk from outraged politicians, you'd think that immigration along the U.S.-Mexico border remains at historically high levels. In fact, illegal immigration from Mexico has dropped to net zero or less, according to the Pew Hispanic Center. (credit:In this May 18, 2006 file photo, a man rests his hands on a fence looking out to the United States from a Mexican customs station after being detained by U.S. Border Patrol in Arizona and returned to Mexico in Nogales, Mexico. The border near Nogales is c)
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