California-Mexico Border to Get Virtual Fence

Diane Cook and Len Jenshel

Vehicle barrier fence in Yuma, Arizona -- one of several border protections installed by U.S. Border Patrol

Federal officials say they're ready to begin building a new "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico border. The first towers holding sensors, cameras and communications gear to detect drug smugglers and illegal immigrants will be built along 53 miles of Arizona's border with Mexico. Towers on the remaining 320 miles of the state's southern border will follow.

Project director Mark Borkowski says New Mexico will get virtual fencing next, followed by California and most of Texas.

They expect it to cover nearly the entire 2,000-mile boundary within five years. The executive director of the Homeland Security Department's Secure Border Initiative program tells The Associated Press that construction could start within weeks.

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