DHS budget: no additional miles for border fence; concentrating on "virtual fence" (+287g?)

Peggy Sherry, Acting Chief Financial Officer for the Department of Homeland Security, recently conducted a conference call about Barack Obama's budget for the DHS and a transcript is here:

In terms of funding for the (border fence), there's a - that is part of the Secure Border Initiative funding. There are additional funds for implementation, some additional roads, lights, some additional tactical infrastructure... In terms of any particular set additional miles of fence, there's nothing specifically identified for any further miles of fence. We are continuing to finish up on the fencing to get as close to the 670 miles of fence that had been previously identified and the Agency was building towards the Secure Fence Act, but there's money for general tactical infrastructure, nothing specifically at this time for a set number in terms of miles of fence.

See also "In 'Virtual Fence,' Continuity With Border Effort by Bush" by Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post (link):

In announcing the resumption of a "virtual fence" on the U.S.-Mexican border yesterday, the Obama administration sent a powerful message of continuity with former president George W. Bush, who included a pledge to secure the border as part of a 2006 effort to persuade Congress to overhaul the nation's immigration laws... Much like Bush aides did three years ago, administration officials in the Homeland Security Department described a five-year, multibillion-dollar plan yesterday to link a chain of tower-mounted sensors and other surveillance equipment over most of the 2,000-mile southern frontier...

The transcript also has this question from a reporter:

Can you explain what the language under the ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] budget is - what that means, ‘it provided for 287(g).’ It says that none of the funds provided under this heading may be used to continue a delegation of law enforcement authority authorized under this section. What does that mean?

The DHS official didn't know what that referred to, but the reporter said it was on page 520 of some document. Yet, the budget available from whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/Overview is barely over 100 pages.

Fri, 05/08/2009 - 19:56 · · Importance: 4