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On April 9, President Bush came to Yuma, Ariz., flanked by uniformed border agents, National Guard troops and members of local law enforcement, to tackle the problem of illegal immigration.

"Securing the border is a critical part of a strategy for comprehensive immigration reform," he said. "Congress is going to take up the legislation on immigration. It is a matter of national interest, and it's a matter of deep conviction for me."

He urged Congress to get behind a tangle of proposals, ranging from more border patrols and a guest-worker program to stiffer penalties for illegal immigrants and the people who employ them.

But the heart of President Bush's effort is the Secure Border Initiative.

As with so many other pressing issues - from terrorism to oil dependency - the White House is turning to the military-industrial complex for a solution. The initiative is the Department of Homeland Security's plan to erect a "virtual fence" of monitors, sensors, unmanned planes and communications to help border agents catch illegal immigrants crossing the southern border.

In September 2006, Homeland Security awarded initial contracts - worth upwards of $2 billion - for the high-tech surveillance technology along the border region to weapons giant Boeing. It beat out rivals Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman to gain a foothold in the lucrative realm of homeland security.

Boeing was the Pentagon's second-largest contractor in 2006, with $20.3 billion in deals. It now finds itself well-positioned to receive the billions in contracts Homeland Security is doling out to give patrols a clear picture of everything that moves across almost 2,000 miles of border.

What is missing is a clear picture of exactly how many billions it will cost. Last November, Richard Skinner, inspector general of Homeland Security, told lawmakers that estimates for this advanced surveillance network are all over the map: from a low of $2 billion to a high of between $8 billion to $30 billion. Skinner testified that "our frustration right now is that we don't know what it's going to cost. We just don't know what the big picture is."

Homeland Security answered that frustration with the Secure Border Strategic Plan the following month, stressing that "it expects to complete the SBI investment need to gain control of the Southwest land border by the end of FY 2011, although we certainly expect to gain substantial control of the border prior to that time."

The report put the estimate of total costs for equipment, logistics and manpower at $7.6 billion though 2011. But the department admits it "does not as yet have a wholly satisfactory methodology of determining whether a portion of the border is considered under control."

At a January 2006 briefing, Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Michael Jackson told contractors interested in its business that "we're asking you to come back and tell us how to do our business." Now Boeing has come back with its answer: Give us the money, and don't think too much.

Luckily, some members of Congress are not accepting that. Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of California, chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and his staff are looking into the issue of contractor oversight, pointing out that "60 of the 98 people overseeing the border project are contractors."

A Feb. 8 memo from his staff alleged that "at least one contractor hired to engage in contract oversight on the border project - Booz Allen Hamilton - may have a conflict of interest with Boeing" and suggested that because the firm has teamed up with Boeing on other contracts, it cannot provide impartial oversight. Booz Allen Hamilton executives rejected this suggestion.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, in a press conference following President Bush's speech, was quick to assert the Secure Border Initiative's judicious use of resources: "We're not just going to say, `Oh, this looks like some neat stuff, let's buy it and then put it on the border.' " However, a look at some systems military contractors are proposing demonstrates that "buying neat stuff" is exactly what may happen.

For 2008, the president is requesting $46.4 billion in funding for Homeland Security, an 8 percent increase over 2007. And with President Bush's belated focus on border security and immigration reform, it is likely money will be spent in a hurry.

In border security, the focus on high-tech solutions follows a wave of failure and money wasted. A $425 million system of cameras and sensors was installed improperly and never worked effectively, and a $6.8 million unmanned aerial vehicle patrolling the border crashed.

In Iraq, military contractors wasted billions of dollars of reconstruction aid. Boeing, meanwhile, is no stranger to scandals: Its chief financial officer went to jail in 2005 for wrongdoing in securing Pentagon contracts. To put military contractors, particularly Boeing, in charge of building the Secure Border Initiative is a recipe for disaster.

But the issue of militarizing the border goes beyond questions of accountability. To craft truly effective, humane and "comprehensive" immigration reform, the president will have to do a lot more than show up once in a while. He has to learn that the border is not a war zone, Mexicans are not combatants, and military contractors are not the solution.