Virtual Fence Will Get Government’s Approval, Chertoff Says

WASHINGTON (AP) – Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today that the government plans to approve a 28-mile virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona.

The government withheld partial payment to contractor Boeing last year because the technology Boeing used in a test near Tucson, Arizona, didn’t work properly.

The department gave a conditional acceptance in December. Chertoff saw the fence during a trip to Arizona last week.

The virtual fence is part of a national plan to secure the southwest border with physical barriers and technological detection capabilities intended to stop illegal immigrants on foot and drug smugglers in vehicles.

Chertoff says 294 miles of fencing had been installed at the start of the month. He says some of the technology used in the 28-mile stretch could be replicated along other parts of the border.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)