Funds for SBInet Reallocated to Alternate Technologies – HS Today
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Tuesday that she would cut off Recovery Act funding from the virtual fence initiative along the US southwest border, potentially signaling the final fate of the struggling program.
Napolitano has not yet completed a review of the Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet) began in January, but with the reallocation of SBInet funds under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) (Public Law 111-5), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) indicated its fear that it would lose those funds if left in the program.
“Not only do we have an obligation to secure our borders, we have a responsibility to do so in the most cost effective way possible,” Napolitano said in a statement. “The system of sensors and cameras along the southwest border known as SBInet has been plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines.”
