WP - U.S. Border Security at a Crossroads

U.S. Border Security at a Crossroads
Technology Problems Limit Effectiveness of US-VISIT Program to Screen Foreigners

By Robert O'Harrow Jr. and Scott Higham
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, May 23, 2005; Page A01



The race to tighten the nation's borders began just after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Authorities learned that hijackers had lived illegally in the country, renting apartments, taking flying lessons and moving around freely.

Congress demanded changes in border controls and tight deadlines for building a computer network that would screen foreign visitors as they seek to enter or leave the country by scanning their fingerprints and matching them against databases of suspected terrorists.

Pressing to meet that goal, the Homeland Security Department last year awarded one of the most ambitious technology contracts in the war on terror -- a 10-year deal estimated at up to $10 billion -- to the global consulting firm Accenture. In return, the company and its subcontractors promised to create a "virtual border" that would electronically screen millions of foreign travelers.

Documents and interviews with people familiar with the program, called US-VISIT, show that government officials are betting on speculative technology while neglecting basic procedures to ensure that taxpayers get full value from government contractors.

~snip~
more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/22/AR2005052200613.html

border undetected and take up residence in the US. Although most of these folks are pretty much friendly neighbors, there is no way to guarantee that they all are. So they use all this expensive but seemingly "Maginot Line" type of technology to screen travelers that already have to go through numerous security checks, but don't pay any real attention to people that could be waltzing across the border with all kinds of suitcase nukes and other destructive nasties.

Am I missing something here?
:shrug: