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WASHINGTON — Taxpayers have shelled out at least $15.1 million per mile for 53 miles of “virtual fence” built to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, more than 12 times the original estimate.
The federal government set aside $833 million for the fence of cameras, sensors and other barriers in 2007, and the vast majority of that money, at least $800 million, has been spent on a sliver, in Arizona, of the nearly 2,000-mile southern border. About $20.9 million has been used on the northern border.
The totals come from the House Homeland Security Committee, which got them from the Homeland Security Department. Customs and Border Protection confirmed the figures.
