Questions raised at SBInet meeting

American Border Patrol

Questions raised at SBInet meeting

February 22, 2007

A three-day conference on the Strategic Border Initiative presented an opportunity for Glenn Spencer of American Border Patrol to raise some questions about the scope of the program. Spencer attended the meeting to learn about SBInet as part of ABP's Operation B.E.E.F.

One of the Wednesday morning speakers, Justin Abold, described the work being done by the DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis.

Some have said one of the most meaningful purposes of intelligence is " to establish where the danger lies." With this in mind, Spencer asked the following question of Abold.

"This may be controversial, but Mexican intellectual Elena Poniatowska has said that Mexico is regaining lost territory by migratory means. There is plenty of evidence to support this proposition. What is the Department of Homeland Security doing to assess this threat?"

Abold said that DHS looked at different groups within the U.S. to try to identify those who are radical and a possible threat. He did not specifically address the question threats by a nation-state such as Mexico. (In his presentation, Abold said that the guest worker program proposed by the administration was an important element of border security, suggesting that his office didn't consider the massive Mexican occupation of U.S. territory to be a danger.)

Later, a number of attendees, who were mostly contractors, whispered in Glenn's ear, "good question." One said he would have liked to ask such a question, but wanted to keep his job.

Following a Wednesday afternoon panel discussion that included the use of simulation models to 'score' the effectiveness of systems, Spencer asked the following question:

"This may be controversial as well, but I used to do large-scale simulations models and I remember that it was important to state a measure of effectiveness and to include the total system. The only border legislation passed by Congress last year was the Secure Fence Act of 2006. It calls for 700-miles of two-tiered fence to be built along the border. I haven't heard this fence being discussed within the context of the Strategic Border Initiative. Why is this?"

None of the panel members wished to address the question, saying it was outside their scope. Dr. William Seidler, Chief Scientist for SBInet at Boeing, spoke from the floor saying that his organization were actuators and that they did what the government told them to do. Earlier Seidler had praised the importance of the guest worker program to border security.

"In my judgment, SBInet is ignoring the serious threat that Mexico represents to American sovereignty and is ignoring the Congress of the United States by refusing to take seriously the Secure Fence Act of 2006," Spencer said. "This program is being driven more by politics and Presidential aspirations to merge Mexico and the United States than the need for Homeland Security," he added.