The debate over how best to guard the U.S.-Mexico border due to national security concerns has increased dramatically in the last few months because of the drug cartel violence happening south of the border. The central question has always been what is the most effective way to keep illegal activity, whether it be undocumented immigrants or drug smugglers. from crossing over. One idea that has been up and running since May 2007 involves setting up a virtual border wall using cameras and the Internet.

One of the individuals championing the Texas Virtual Border Watch Program is Hudspeth County, Texas, Sheriff Arvin West. "Every day there is the potential for people to come across the border." This is nothing new for the people who try to secure the southern border. Local law enforcement and border patrol are very familiar with the difficulties that come from watching the vast and open area of this Texas southern region, stretching from the western edges of El Paso all the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

But West has more up-close familiarity with the dangers that come from doing this type of job. Back in 2006, KFOX cameras were present when Hudspeth County sheriff deputies exchanged gunfire with drug smugglers who looked to be protected by Mexican army personnel. On that day, it was West's deputies who were outmanned and outgunned.

In a recent ride-along across the same area, the deputy in charge of finding funding and expanding local enforcement efforts to watch the border said that even after that 2006 incident, the county saw very little funding from the federal government to help with national security.

"Boots on the ground is the name of the game," said Sgt. Robert Wilson, who is the Hudspeth County Special Operations deputy. "The more people that are out (here) with eyes looking, the more people who are doing the job." Deputies are able to check and look for illegal activity, maybe even terrorist activity. It's a win-win situation for both local law enforcement and the Border Patrol officers who sheriff deputies are able to help watch.

Unfortunately, even with a federal border wall about to be completed and blocking certain areas along the Rio Grande, many spots remain wide open and illegal activity happens under the radar. For example, in one spot between Hudspeth County and El Paso County, one can drive right up the border to where no barrier has been installed. There's also a foot bridge that runs along a river dam. Anybody can just come across the bridge and get to the other side.

A KFOX news team even captured evidence of people having been in the area recently. For example there was a campfire near the river. West said that is usually an indication of people who perhaps camped overnight and then crossed into the U.S. without anybody watching the border.

But sheriffs working along the border are not manning it all by themselves these days. Help in securing the southern border comes, not by trained deputies, but by everyday people.

"Through our experience of people who have been stopped by border patrol, there's a large number of them in this area that are drug dealers or gang members." That's the sentiment uttered by one homeowner who chooses to be called "Joe" for security reasons. Neither the person's identity or exact home location will be published. What we are able to report is that "Joe" and other homeowners can see people crossing the border and then walk across their yard. This family wanted to do something about the illegal crossers they see almost every day from their front door.

"Because we needed to let people know, politicians who had the authority to influence security on the border, and to let them know what's going on in this area." A few years back, the family volunteered for a pilot study to place a camera on their rooftop to monitor illegal activity taking place along the southern border. They have evidence from video captured from their camera that reveals illegal crossings taking place right in front of their home.

Pilot program designers wanted to know if other citizens would be willing to monitor other cameras strategically placed along the border. This patchwork of cameras--all connected by way of the Internet--would be able to create a virtual border wall. Their question: Once people saw illegal activity taking place, would they be able to call it in to law enforcement and then make an arrest of individuals if indeed they were violating the law?

Using $2 million in state money, the Texas Virtual Border Watch Program was instituted by the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition. The organization is made up of 20 border county sheriffs in the Lone Star State. They pledge to help each other when it comes to tackling the overwhelming task of keeping their citizens safe from illegal border activity.

By working together, they were able to get up and running this virtual border watch by placing a dozen cameras in areas where large numbers of illegal crossings take place. Citizens, nationwide, monitor the cameras through a Web site called Blue Servo. If something suspicious or illegal takes place, a person makes a phone call to designated law enforcement agencies like the sheriff's office. "The fact of the matter is that without this, we're not able to reduce the criminal element that is going on in each one of these counties," said West.

However, the program does have its critics. "So $2 million has been spent. Three arrests have been made. It's a waste of time," said El Paso State Senator Eliot Shapleigh. He doesn't like the wall, either physical or virtual. To him it's an angry symbol of a racist past. He cites anecdotal evidence that even the physical border wall recently put up doesn't work.

Instead of spending money in what he calls programs that hold no promise, Shapleigh believes watching the border should be an issue best resolved by the federal government. And it is Congress and President Barack Obama who have to come up with other solutions. "The best way to handle (border surveillance) is qualified, trained border patrol and enough to do the job," said Shapleigh.

West, who recently began representing the Texas Border Sheriffs Coalition, admits glitches are being worked out in their virtual border watch program. But Joe the homeowner who lives near the border and now also volunteers to monitor the Web site and the cameras installed said this national security program is better than nothing.

"They're murderers or they are going to rape someone and it's worth catching the needles in the haystack if that is your child who's going to be murdered or raped," said Joe. And for those who support the citizen virtual border wall program, it will be a success if just one dangerous person can be stopped.

The federal government plans to begin construction of its own virtual fence program in Arizona later in the month of March. It's the second attempt to install this type of technology along the border after its first try failed due to technology glitches at a cost of $40 million. It took another two years and now $400 billion from the federal government to get their program going again.