Task Force: Good or Bad News for SBINet?

Since her days as Arizona governor, Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has not been the biggest advocate of the Secure Border Initiative -- a multi-year plan for reducing illegal immigration and protecting U.S. borders through a combination of physical fencing and monitoring technology. She once told an audience at the National Press Club, "you show me a 50-foot wall, and I'll show you a 51-foot ladder.'"

So that makes her decision to form a task force within the Homeland Security Advisory Council to examine the Department's efforts along the U.S.-Mexico border and provide advice and recommendations "directly to the Secretary" a curious one. Is this just another effort by Napolitano to improve efficiencies, or could the recommendations provide the ammunition needed to make drastic cuts to the program?

A DHS announcement noted that the new task force underscores DHS' emphasis on Southwest border security in response to ongoing drug cartel violence in Mexico. Secretary Napolitano asked the 20-member group to focus on two major challenges: ensuring rigorous inspections processes at ports of entry while facilitating commerce; and assessing the practical consequences of border violence and DHS' response to communities along the Southwest border. No specific mention was made of SBI or SBINet -- the technology component that just got underway in the last couple months -- but as a central component of border security, the program won't likely be off limits.

The current chair of HSAC Judge William Webster, will chair the task force, which held its first meeting Thursday at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. The vice chairs are Jim Jones, a former ambassador to Mexico and White House Chief of Staff, and Lupe Trevino, sheriff of Hidalgo County, Texas.

A list of other task force members can be found in the DHS announcement.