White House Cans the 'Danged' Fence

Napolitano says no 'one-size-fits-all' solution for border
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 15, 2011 10:40 AM CST
White House Cans the 'Danged' Fence
A prototype of a tower for a virtual fence along the US-Mexico border at a test facility in Playas, NM.   (AP Photo/U.S. Customs and Border Protection, File)

After four years, about a billion bucks, and lots of yelling on both sides ("Complete the danged fence," anyone?), the White House is officially canning the US-Mexico border fence, reports the AP. Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano made the long-expected announcement yesterday, saying that there's no "one-size-fits-all" fix for border security, and that the US would look for technology more suited to the rugged border.

The decision "ends a long-troubled program that spent far too much of the taxpayers' money for the results it delivered," said Joe Lieberman, who heads up the Senate's Homeland Security committee. The failed project ended up with 53 miles of operational fence that cost taxpayers about $15 million a mile.
(More Janet Napolitano stories.)

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