The Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan and Its Impact on Border Security

Technology has really been an integral part of the proposed solution to secure the vast and rugged terrain of the Southwest Border for a long time, and it is one part of an overall set of solutions that must include manpower, intelligence, and where appropriate, infrastructure. Unfortunately, a series of miscues and missteps has plagued Customs and Border Protection's previous efforts to produce a large-scale border security solution. The prior program known as SBInet was the subject of many criticisms from the GAO and the Congress before then-Secretary Napolitano canceled the program actually in 2011, and our goal in holding today's hearing is to ensure that we are finally on the path to success after a number of false starts. Hundreds of millions of dollars were spent for SBInet. We have a grand total of 53 miles of the border under surveillance to show for it. That is just 53 miles out of nearly 2,000.