Criticism Prompts Napolitano to Halt Border Projects

(Phoenix Business Journal – Mike Sunnucks)

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is putting a halt to border construction projects funded by the federal stimulus following questions about how money is being spent, according to the Associated Press.

U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan criticized stimulus spending on ports of entry from Canada. He also questioned plans to spend $355 million to build new ports of entry at 22 locations along the Canadian border, saying some of those have minimal traffic and security challenges compared with sites along the Mexican border.

“On average, the ports see only five vehicles per hour and yet the proposed plan is to spend an average of $16 million per facility,” said Dorgan in a statement. “It just defies common sense.” Dorgan pointed to Antler, N.D., which he said sees two trucks and 36 passenger cars per day. The Antler location is slated to be demolished and rebuilt at a cost of $14 million. “I support efforts to boost security on our northern border, but we need to do it in a way that is fiscally responsible and follows some principles of common sense,” Dorgan said. “We can do some upgrades, but we don’t need to spend tens of millions of dollars to replace the existing facilities at ports of entry that see only a few vehicles every hour. That’s just nuts.” Read more here.