Security Products

By Karina Sanchez · October 2006

It's My Birthday

BORDER protection has been a primary concern since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. An issue that has basically remained stagnant for a number of years, border protection is now gaining the support it needs to keep the nation's security tight at its most critical points. It's been almost a year since the Department of Homeland Security launched the Secure Border Initiative aimed at boosting efforts to employ new technologies, increase manpower and streamline the process of removing illegal immigrants trying to gain entry into the United States.

It's been almost a year since the Department of Homeland Security launched the Secure Border Initiative aimed at boosting efforts to employ new technologies, increase manpower and streamline the process of removing illegal immigrants trying to gain entry into the United States.

Though some of these efforts have been criticized by many, there's proven progress being made in capturing and removing from the country illegal Mexican and non-Mexican immigrants. Michael Chertoff, DHS secretary, John Torres, ICE acting director of detention and removal, and David Aguilar, CBP border patrol chief, recently held a press conference, detailing the progress of the Secure Border Initiative. DHS found that there is not only a greater number of illegal immigrants being caught and sent back to their countries, but there also has been a decrease in the number if illegal immigrants trying to cross the border. DHS has decreased the turnover rate of detaining and sending illegal immigrants back to their native countries. A process that used to take about 90 days now takes an average of about 20 days. So it's obvious that people are spreading the word that crossing the nation's borders isn't as easy as it used to be.

What's Being Done?
Since its inception, the Secure Border Initiative increased the number of captures and has improved its detainee centers, providing more beds and decreasing the turnaround time on removals. Torres said in the press conference that removal of illegal immigrants last year totaled 166,000 and this year the number of removals to date has been 158,000, and DHS expects to exceed the number of removals from last year. Due to a comprehensive increase in security and detainee efficiencies, things are finally coming together.

With the increase in new technologies and the added efforts of everyone involved, DHS is able to better manage the nation's borders and secure the United States as a whole. Specially trained National Guardsmen and added cameras around border crossings have helped decrease the number of illegal immigrants. In fact, Lockheed Martin recently released an update of what it's doing to help advance the Secure Border Initiative in cooperation with other businesses. The company's Secure Border Initiative solution is designed to offer DHS a balanced mix of people, process, technology and infrastructure in order to gain full operational control of the nation's borders. The solution was shaped by the company's eight team members, each chosen for specific expertise in areas relevant to homeland and border security.

"Our team is composed of companies that are actively participating in cornerstone programs for DHS, protecting America's ports of entry in the air, on water and on the ground," said Jay Dragone, vice president, Lockheed Martin's homeland security programs, in a recent press release. "Collectively, we offer a wealth of experience in border control and security, infrastructure and integrated communications -- with a strong history of successful past performance on critical national programs."

In addition to its larger partner companies, Lockheed Martin has actively solicited the participation of small businesses throughout the country, as well. The company held industry days in seven communities and established a small-business Web portal to identify qualified small businesses to supply services, technology and product capabilities that would augment the corporation's Secure Border Initiative solution. To date, more than 612 small businesses have responded.

"We've built our solution on an open business model, providing partnership and results, not selling products," Dragone said. "Throughout the program, we believe it will be essential to engage with small businesses in order to assess new innovations to keep the borders secure in the face of changing security needs."

How Have Things Improved?
There's no doubt that apprehensions have increased and that security around the nation's borders has toughened up, but there's still more to be done. Chertoff wants to focus more of his efforts now on getting the Temporary Worker Program up and running. In a holistic plan to not only secure U.S. borders, but also the internal United States, Chertoff is now making an effort to get Congress on board with streamlining the Temporary Worker Program.

"To really support our Border Patrol and our ICE agents, we've got to find some way to relieve that economic pressure," Chertoff said in the press conference. "We've got to find some way to channel some of that economic pressure in a way that's productive, that gives us real visibility to who's coming across the border, lets us register them, lets us track them, lets us collect taxes from them, and lets us be sure that we know who they are because they have secure identification. And if that last piece falls into place, I think we can really deliver long-term on the promise of secure borders for the American people."

What's happening now is that illegal immigrants are being pushed into those remote, more dangerous areas of border crossing in an effort to evade CBP. In doing this, illegal immigrants are taking dangerous risks, baring the heat, lack of food and water and several miles of uninhabited land. Many of those who take these risks end up losing their lives in the middle of nowhere, and moreover, many who die out in the desert are never found and never reported. In response, DHS is planning to employ new technology to monitor these remote areas and to give CBP the ability to operate where it's very remote. This new effort may not only help to save peoples' lives, but also to create a stronghold on the 6,000 miles of America's border lands.

Though the Secure Border Initiative is not even a year old yet, it provides an opportunity for a number of vertical markets, specifically security, to help beef up border protection today and in the future.

This article originally appeared in the October 2006 issue of Security Products, pg. 12.

About the author

Karina Sanchez
Karina Sanchez is the former managing editor for Security Products magazine. She now freelances for Web publishers, trade magazines and corporations.