Surveillance tower raises suspicion in border town
By Bob Brewin bbrewin@govexec.com July 19, 2007
ARIVACA, ARIZ. -- Residents of this small town held a meeting Wednesday with lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union to discuss whether they can legally force the Homeland Security Department to remove a high-tech tower that is part of a virtual fence to slow the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico.
Many Arivacans are concerned that the tower -- equipped with long-range video cameras, radar and night-vision equipment to spot and track illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexican border 12 miles away -- threatens their privacy.
Arivaca resident Mary Scott said the idea that images from the tower are fed into a Customs and Border Patrol command center 75 miles away in Tucson, where government workers can watch, is "oppressive" to her.
Another resident, Philip Benoit, said he wants the town of about 1,500 to file an injunction to stop DHS from operating the tower and its linked computer systems because the network could spy on residents. "I don't want to be a blip on a radar screen," Benoit said.
The tower, located just south of the center of Arivaca, is one of nine 98-foot structures government contractor Boeing completed last month to monitor 28 miles of border. Once completed, the system, called the Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet), will encompass 1,800 towers housing infrared cameras, radar and communication equipment along almost the entire U.S.-Mexican border. The system is estimated to cost $2.5 billion, but could run as much as $30 billion, according to a DHS inspector general report.
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