Boeing, Border Patrol testing device to track illegal entrants


By Jim Lamb
Thursday, May 3, 2007 8:58 PM MDT

ARIVACA—America’s new-est weapon to thwart unlawful immigration consists of nine thin metal monipole towers, 98 feet tall and anchored by metal guy wires.

The towers are part of Project 28, a Boeing Co. plan to build a “virtual fence” to detect and pinpoint the locations of people illegally crossing into Southern Arizona.

The towers are laden with sophisticated electronic gear to find and report illegals along the border.

Like much of the border debate, there are objections.

Naysayers complain the towers are unsightly, intrusive and could erode the privacy of Arizonans living within the scan area.

And there are others who say if the Border Patrol stopped the illegals on the border, there’d be no need for such sophisticated ways to catch them away from The Line.
About 150 Arivaca-area residents met with Border Patrol and Boeing Co. representatives at the community building Monday night.

“The meeting went very well,” said resident Mary Glaser. She said many of the objections dealt with a planned tower on Tres Bellotas Road about three miles south of Arivaca.

Some objectors feared that the loud klaxon horn on the tower could suddenly go off, startling people and animals nearby.

The Border Patrol said the horn will sound only if there’s an attempt to vandalize the tower.
Glaser is one of those who favors concentrating resources right on the border.

She was also skeptical of the towers’ ability to track people who could be walking in arroyos, out of sight of the sensors.

Another meeting is scheduled May 14 at the Arivaca community building on Universal Ranch Road.

The towers can be moved if needed.

They’re mounted on a trailer that’s surrounded by heavy fencing when it’s parked.

There’s a propane-powered generator for electricity, and the towers will hold high-tech, sophisticated radars, sensors and cameras to locate illegals.

A command center will remotely coordinate the operation of the towers.

There’s one tower in the Avra Valley at the intersection of Arivaca Road and State Route 286, 12 miles of Sasabe, Ariz. on the border.

It’s in a fenced enclosure where there are more than 50 olive green military SUVs parked, some Army tents and other trailers.

A few Nebraska National Guard troopers were at the compound Wednesday.

A Pinkerton guard, hired by Boeing until the Border Patrol takes custody of the towers, escorted two newsmen out of the compound Wednesday afternoon, saying it was off limits to civilians.

The nine towers will be located so that the 28-mile stretch of border and nearby areas will be covered.

Boeing received $20 million for this test.

It’s one of several proposals to fence or wall the entire 1,952-mile Mexican border.

http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2007/05/ ... 716775.txt