U.S. Scales Back Virtual Border Fence

WASHINGTON -- The government yesterday officially unveiled its $20 million "virtual fence," touted for months as one of the most effective ways to secure America's leaky U.S.-Mexico border.

But the problems that have plagued the high-tech barrier mean that the fence's first 28 miles will also likely be its last. The Department of Homeland Security now says it doesn't plan to replicate the Boeing Co. initiative anywhere else. A spokeswoman says there are no plans to expand the project beyond its first phase, although Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says "some elements" of the project may be used in other locations.

The effective mothballing of the concept is a setback for the government's border-protection efforts, an embarrassment for politicians backing the idea of an electronic fence and a blow to Boeing, the project's designer. It will also do little to settle the fractious politics of immigration, which continue to reverberate around the campaign trail.

The virtual fence, called Project 28, came up during Thursday's debate in Austin, Texas, when both Democratic presidential candidates expressed their support for a high-tech alternative to the federal government's construction of a 12-foot-tall physical fence. That project, begun last year, has elicited outcry from Texas property owners and local officials.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120370791803186319.html

EU Plans to Add Border Fingerprinting.

BRUSSELS -- A proposal to add fingerprinting to European Union border controls could have a big impact in cutting back on illegal immigration into the bloc but would change little for ordinary travelers from the U.S. and elsewhere, officials familiar with the process say. The proposed rules, due for release today, would require visitors to the EU to touch fingerprint scanners on their way through immigration. The rules also call for money to link the bloc's border computer networks and for tougher visa interviews, two steps that would aim to crack down on illegal immigration, a hot-button political issue in Europe as in the U.S.http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120285294730563343.html?mod=todays_us_page_one