The “virtual fence” was an idea that could have been culled from science fiction: a state-of-the-art network of cameras, radar, drones and other electronic equipment aligned across the southern border of the United States to catch illegal crossers. But they call it science fiction for a reason.
After spending $1 billion to cover just 53 miles of a 2,000-mile frontier, the Department of Homeland Security announced it’s abandoning the project due to cost overruns and unreliable performance.
“It turned out to be a harder technological problem than we ever anticipated,” program executive director Mark Borkowski told the Los Angeles Times last year. “We thought it would be very easy, and it wasn’t.”
The same could be said of many remedies for illegal immigration. Old-fashioned fences can be climbed. More vigorous enforcement in one place often diverts traffic to areas that are lightly patrolled. A bigger Border Patrol boosts the prices paid to human smugglers, giving them more incentive to find weak spots.
As it happens, the United States has found a way to stem the tide of unauthorized foreigners coming from the south: a severe recession. The number of border apprehensions has dropped sharply. But T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, predicts it will rebound as soon as the economy starts generating jobs again.
Going after employers who knowingly hire illegal workers is a basic government responsibility, and it may weaken the job magnet. But absent a foolproof method for verifying immigration status, even well-intentioned companies can’t easily ensure that all their employees are legal. And firms eager to get around the law can always blame the easily-counterfeited documents their applicants present.
Ultimately, the surest way to stop people from coming illegally is to make it easier for them to come legally. Once the economy regains its health, federal immigration policy needs to make sure the nation has all the workers it needs to grow and prosper. Smarter policy would allow employers to meet their hiring needs while also respecting the law.
In short, the nation needs a comprehensive, realistic approach to immigration. While President Barack Obama has indicated he plans to pursue that option this year, it’s not clear how much appetite Congress has for action.
What is clear is that supposedly easy fixes — like the virtual fence — simply haven’t worked.
