The delay isn’t the first — and it comes as thousands of aging sensors dotting the border trigger false alarms that have proved deadly to Border Patrol agents.

The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) originally planned to blanket the border with a new generation of “unattended ground sensors,” or UGS’s. It was supposed to be a big help for Border Patrol agents, intended to “track, identify, and classify illegal incursions” across the border, according to a solicitation sent to businesses by CBP in April 2011. But last week, an update to the solicitation made it seem like it was canceled, stating abruptly that there are no plans to “release a solicitation for this specific requirement in the near future.”