of sheriff babeu's deputies was shot and wounded in this very same part of the desert 80 miles north of the border, the gunman never captured. >> this has basically been literally unfettered access by smugglers and illegals. >> reporter: so the sheriff hopes the new law combined with the new fence makes his county safer while others remain angry at the law and regard the fence as a scar on the land. gary tuchman, cnn, nogales, arizona. from an actual border fence to a virtual one, our homeland security correspondent jean meserve is looking into that aspect of the story. explain what a virtual fence is. >> the big question is whether the virtual fence is a boon or boondoggle. the system is a series of cameras and ground radars and sensors intended to stop illegal aliens on the border and also known by the way as sbi net. $800 million has been spent so far on this system and what exactly has it bought? if you look at the entire border