Premature Prediction Ping!
"virtual fence" using high-tech surveillance equipment and drones can do the job of stemming illegal immigration.
The Border Patrol's only UAV (drone) crashed and burned tonight east of Nogales.
Posted on 04/25/2006 10:20:26 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
Taking matters into their own hands, some activists are working to build a fence along the nearly 2,000-mile U.S. southern border – with or without government participation.
Using the slogan "American Citizens Securing the Borders Themselves," The Border Fence Project hopes to raise enough money to build a fence along 90 percent of the U.S.-Mexico border that currently has no physical barrier.
According to the effort's website, the "fencing solution" will include the use of near-wholesale raw materials and use volunteer labor to build the structure.
Leaders from both parties in Washington have been reluctant to advocate a fence along the entire border, with some saying a "virtual fence" using high-tech surveillance equipment and drones can do the job of stemming illegal immigration.
States the Border Fence Project website: "Because Washington officials have consistently shown apprehension and outright consternation of the idea of a complete fence, it is unlikely they will ever cooperate, assuming the public continues to vote for special-interest candidates. Furthermore, most estimates show that because of the inefficiency of government labor and high markup on raw materials, the cost is likely to run $9 billion, only 23 percent of the Department of Homeland Security annual budget, but enough to receive grief from the open-borders lobby.
"We know we the civilian volunteers, in cooperation with Minuteman-like groups already on the border, can do the job for 1/400 of that cost!"
The organization, led by Jim Wood of Running Springs, Calif., believes an effective fence can be built for between $1.50 and $4 a foot. It would consist of a barbed-wire fence guarded by "solar motion lights with sirens, other motion sensors, electronic sensors that determine if the wire has been cut and a television-camera-unit for up to every quarter-mile of fencing depending on landscape," the site states.
Last week, Chris Simcox, leader of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, a civilian border patrol group, said if the government was not going to build a fence, volunteers would do so.
''We're going to show the federal government how easy it is to build these security fences, how inexpensively they can be built when built by private people and free enterprise,'' Simcox told the Associated Press.
Meanwhile, an Arizona state lawmaker is proposing legislation to allow ranchers who lease state land along the border to build fencing on government property.
State Rep. Russell Pearce told KVOA-TV the bill is still being drafted.
"I'm interested in helping to do that," Pearce said. "We don't have authority over federal land but we do over state land."
Simcox, who hopes to begin the fence project May 25, says he is supportive of the proposed legislation.
Minuteman spokeswoman Connie Hair called the response to the fence proposal unbelievable – "people wanting to donate, to help build a fence, people wanting a fence on their land," according to AP.
Said Simcox on the Minuteman website: "We have chosen a fence design that is based on the Israeli fences in Gaza and on the West Bank that have cut terrorist attacks there by 95 percent or more. In order to be effective, a fence should not be easy to compromise by climbing over it with a ladder, cutting through it with wire cutters, ramming it with a vehicle, or tunneling under it undetected."
The design includes a double fence with a six-foot trench on both sides and surveillance cameras. Simcox says the fence would cost no more than $150 a foot.
Border-area ranchers have long been active in opposing illegal immigration, since the entrants often vandalize their property and commit other crimes as they make their way north.
Meanwhile, WeNeedAFence.com, a leading organization in the effort to erect a fence, is hailing recent comments by Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., supporting a physical barrier on the border.
"A physical structure is obviously important. A wall in certain areas would be appropriate," Clinton is quoted by the New York Daily News as saying.
"We commend Senator Clinton for supporting a secure physical barrier along our southern border," said WeNeedAFence.com President Colin Hanna. "We welcome the opportunity to work with senators on both sides of the aisle to build consensus in favor of a state-of-the-art border fence."
I will donate to this effort to build a much needed fence.
The issue is out there waiting for someone to cherrypick it. Too bad the Republicans don't seem to care.
"virtual fence" using high-tech surveillance equipment and drones can do the job of stemming illegal immigration.
The Border Patrol's only UAV (drone) crashed and burned tonight east of Nogales.
The issue is out there waiting for someone to cherrypick it. Too bad the Republicans don't seem to care.
Sadly this seems to be the case for most professional politicians in the modern West. In New Zealand for instance, economic and welfare reforms from 1984 to 1999 (Rogernomics) had to be kickstarted from a party supposedly from the Left, because no one from the conservative establishment had the bones to do so! It take courage to defy the chattering classes' real and imagined sway on power, and sadly most supposedly conservative politicians did was to implement far-left policies when in power.
pinging myself for later! This needs bill boards!!
The one that the Minutemen are doing, will be on private property, and is legit. And as far as legistlator backing (Russell Pearce, a MM) is concerned, the MM one is what they are talking about.
My donation will go as it has in the past to The Minutemen and Chris Simcox.
i like the far left box 'anti-tax nuts'
L
And it's to a very good (and sound) cause!
http://www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/OIGtm_RLS_121605.pdf
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles for Border Security OBP’s use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) along a portion of the southwest border is one positive step toward using mobile technology. Nevertheless, challenges remain in expanding the use of UAVs, as well.
While the UAVs that were tested are able to stay airborne for up to 20 hours, which surpasses any current capability of aircraft in OBP’s fleet, there are significant limitations to the UAV system. Weather conditions can impact the operational capabilities of UAVs. Dense cloud cover limits the visual acuity of some sensor and camera packages. Also, icing conditions and thunderstorms cause difficulty for UAV flights.
UAVs remain very costly to operate and require a significant amount of logistical support as well as specialized operator and maintenance training. Operating one UAV requires a crew of up to 20 support personnel. OBP officials mentioned that the cost to operate a UAV is more than double the cost of manned aircraft, and that the use of UAVs has resulted in fewer seizures.
However, the fact remains that UAVs can stay on station for an extended period of time, which is a distinct advantage over manned air support.
According to OBP, the Hermes UAV costs $1,351 per flight hour and the Hunter costs $923. Those figures included acquisition costs, operations and maintenance costs, and the salaries and benefits of the pilots, payload operators, and mechanics. Flight hour costs were based on leasing the tested UAVs as opposed to a purchase, which OBP says would be less expensive.
Sad that American citizens can no longer expect their government to provide for national security.
Gee, sounds like the low-tech option (fence) will pay off a lot more over the long run. Surprise, Surprise.
I like your tagline.
Build it and they will not come.
Your post reports that UAVs have resulted in fewer seizures. This observation sounds bad for UAVs, on the surface. But a really good detection mechanism which was publicized south of the border would be expected to result in fewer interdictions if the coyotes either balked or went somewhere else.
Newspaper morons
There are graphics and cartoons on FR that circulate the nation and continue to be saved and posted in personal emails and on webpages
With dinky diminishing newspaper circulations and left wing graphics dying before they hit the newsstands or front porch
Maybe all of these dumb laid off journalists can pick lettuce somewhere
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