Using High-tech To Protect The Border

In 1994, "the 66 miles from Imperial Beach, Calif., to the Anza Borrego Desert in the east -- officially designated the San Diego Sector -- was the most vulnerable portion of the U.S. southern international boundary, accounting for nearly one-fourth of all illegal border crossings throughout the Southwest. As illegal traffic climbed to tens of thousands annually, crime rates and property damage in border communities soared, and the quality of life in neighborhoods deteriorated... Today, a fleet of helicopters with forward-looking infrared systems provides continual aerial coverage, and Zodiac boat teams patrol the river and ocean approaches. Special units with vans, bicycles and ATVs and on horseback cover the sector from the heavily populated urban coast to the remote eastern terrain."