Boeing Wins U.S. Contract to Build High-Tech Virtual Border Fence

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced Thursday that Boeing has been awarded a contract to construct an advanced electronic surveillance system along America's land borders with Mexico and Canada.

The project, known as SBInet (Secure Border Initiative), calls for erecting 1,800 towers fitted with cameras and motion sensors across roughly 10,000 kilometers of border. Some media reports have valued the contract at $2.5 billion, though Homeland Security officials declined to confirm that figure.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff called the system a "21st-century virtual fence" at a press conference alongside Boeing Vice President James Albaugh. Officials said the technology would help detect, identify, and respond to illegal crossings.

Boeing estimates the system can be operational within three years, beginning near Tucson, Arizona, the most active stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border. Tens of thousands of people attempt to cross U.S. borders each year, and roughly 472 deaths were recorded in 2005, the majority linked to people becoming lost in southwestern desert terrain.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2006, in its own words.