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This news is from L.A., but it’s the nearest protest we could locate:

Latino Cadets Publicly Resign From JROTC in Protest to U.S. Troops Being Deployed to U.S.-Mexico Border
The Coordinadora Estudiantil de la Raza (CER), a coalition of middle school, high school, college and university students from over twenty campuses throughout the southland, will hold a press conference at the Edward Roybal Federal Building on Thursday, June 1st, 2006 at 5:30 pm.

During the press conference the CER, along with allies, internationally known conscientious objector Pablo Paredes, Spokesperson of the Frente Continental Isaura Rivera, UCLA Professor Juan Gomez Quinones, will publicly declare their opposition to the deployment of U.S. military troops at the U.S. Mexico-Border. The CER and allies believe that 3,000 human lives lost at the border since 1994 is already too much blood spilt for a broken immigration policy. Therefore they reject current presidential and legislative proposals for troop deployment and demand an immediate demilitarization of the U.S.-Mexico Border.

At the press conference Latino cadets will publicly resign from JROTC in protest the militarization of the U.S. Border. The CER is not asking youth to resign or refrain from joining the military, but it seeks to make a clear statement: its members and sympathizers will not be used by the U.S. military to kill their own people at the U.S.-Mexico Border.

From Indymedia LA

Will the big border contract go to Boeing, Ericsson, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, or Raytheon?

We’ll kick things off by voting for Ericsson (this company moved into view later than the rest, but it has actual bordercam experience in Europe, offices in Plano, and partnerships with Texas universities). We’ll also place a side bet that the Carlyle Group wins the chain link fence subcontract.

What’s more fun to watch than the Carlyle Group? Nobody you say? That’s why we thought you’d be interested to know that on page 111 of the 112 page directory of large business contractors enrolled for work on the SBInet contract (Secure Border Initiative) is a Carlyle Company:

Wheatland Tube Co. is a leading U.S. manufacturer of
steel pipe and tubing. Wheatland Tube manufactures high strength galvanized fence framework (ASTM F1083 and ASTM F1043), electrical steel conduit, ASTM A53 schedule 40 and schedule 80 steel pipe sizes 1/2 nominal to 6 5/8 in both black and hot dip galvanized finish, steel fire protection pipe, galvanized mechanical tubing and pipe and electrical fittings. Wheatland operates 6 manufacturing locations in the U.S. and was purchased in March 2006 by The Carlyle Group, Washington, DC.

Wheatland partners in the SBInet venture will be: The Carlyle Group, Link Consulting LLC (as in chain link), and Seminole Tubular Products Company. See Dale Funk’s April 1 (no foolin’) story about the Carlyle takeover of Seminole and Wheatland.

The Secure Border Initiative Network (SBInet) is the megamammoth contract for border services that was supposed to be bid by May 30. Following are some notes on the bidders: Boeing, Ericsson, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and Raytheon. The contract winner is supposed to be announced in September.

Boeing
Boeing Integrated Defense Systems of St. Louis will team with DRS Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, Parsippany, N.J.; Kollsman Inc., Merrimack, N.H.; L-3 Government Services Inc., Salt Lake City; Perot Systems Corp., Plano, Texas, and Unisys Global Public Sector of Reston, Va., Boeing said in a news release. (Wash. Tech. 6/1/06: “Boeing fields SBINet team,” by Alice Lipowicz)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): None (blank box)

Ericsson
Ericsson’s team, called America’s Border Security Group, includes Computer Sciences Corp., Fluor Corp., Sycoleman Corp. (a division of L-3 Communications Corp.), MTC Technologies Inc., Camber Corp., AEP Networks Inc., Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas at Austin. (Wash. Tech. 6/02/06: “Ericsson joins race for SBInet” by Alice Lipowicz)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): L3 Communications, SYColeman, Computer Science Corporation (CSC), FLUOR, Modern Technologies Corporation (MTC), AEP Networks, Camber Corporation, University of Texas, Texas A&M University, Sarnoff Corporation

Lockheed Martin
Lockheed officials said they are offering a systems engineering discipline and management approach. “Lockheed Martin and its teammates bring a wealth of experience deploying mission critical systems for our nation,” Jay Dragone, vice president, homeland security programs, said in a news release. “Our SBInet solution will provide the [agency] with enhanced and streamlined capabilities to reduce the number of illegal border crossings into the United States.” (Wash. Tech. 5/31/06: “SBI Net bids move forward,” By Alice Lipowicz)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): TBD

Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman, joining other large defense contractors, has announced the team it put together to bid on the upcoming SBInet, the lucrative DHS border security procurement program. The program could be worth $2 billion. Most of the Northrop Grumman team members are former partners from the DHS’s aborted America’s Shield Initiative (ASI) procurement…..

Northrop Grumman’s team of integrators includes Fairfax, Virginia-based Anteon International, Fairfax, Virginia-based SRA International, MacLean, Virginia-based BearingPoint, Ebensburg, Pennsylvania-based L. Robert Kimball and Associates, Kansas City, Missouri-based HNTB Corp., San Diego, California-based L-3 Communications Titan Group, and Falls Church, Virginia-based General Dynamics.

Note that one of the companies on Northrop Grumman’s team — L-3 Communications — had contracted with DHS for border security technology before, but this was not a good experience. L-3 acquired International Microwave and assumed that company’s role in DHS’s Integrated Surveillance Intelligence System, known as ISIS. DHS Inspector General, the Government Accounting Office (GAO), and Congress soon became impatient with the company’s performance, with some critics charging it verged on the fraudulent. After border patrol experts complained that, at tremendous expense and multimillion cost overruns, L-3 installed antiquated, low-quality, Radio Shack-level cameras along the border, and that the cameras were installed on poles which were spaced too far from each other to offer any meaningful coverage (coverage which could not have been provided in any event even if the poles were properly spaced, because of the shoddy equipment), the contract was pulled. DHS then reissued the contract, and L-3 had the unfortunate distinction of having the equipment it had installed and the technology it used explicitly referred to in the new contract language as examples of unacceptable low quality which new bidders should avoid.

Congress hopes to avoid a repeat of the ASI/ISIS-L-3 experience with SBI.net. The Homeland Security appropriations bill (HR 5441) for fiscal 2007 would allocate $115 million to SBI.net, but would withhold $25 million from the SBInet program until DHS provides a plan “to establish performance metrics to demonstrate how the [Secure Border Initiative] is a more efficient and effective approach than the failed initiatives of the past.” (WNG 5/26/06: by Haney Dan)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): None (blank box)

Raytheon
“We’ve done a lot of security-integration systems,” said Raymond T. Wheeler , business development director for Raytheon’s SBInet program, who noted Raytheon has lined up partners such as [Bechtel,] IBM Corp. and BAE Systems for its bid. “We would take technology from the best source. We’d look to our own expertise and the expertise of others.” (Boston Globe 5/30/06: “Raytheon to submit bid for border-security contract,” by Robert Weisman)

Partners reported in SBInet business directory (May 31): IBM, BAE Systems, Bechtel National Inc.

Other Resources
PDF file of SBInet Business Directory (May 31)