On the presidential campaign trail, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani often promotes the installation of electronic monitoring devices at the border to stem illegal immigration, without mentioning that until a few months ago, he was partner in a company trying to market such technology.
Mr. Giuliani and his consulting company were part owners of SkyWatch L.L.C., a closely held start-up company that says it has developed a sensor capable of monitoring illegal border crossings. SkyWatch, in collaboration with Raytheon, a large military contractor, is now looking to market the technology to the federal government and elsewhere.
Mr. Giuliani’s company, Giuliani Partners, was invited to join the venture more than two years ago by Abdol Moabery, then the chief executive of SkyWatch’s parent company, who went on to help the Giuliani campaign raise money in Florida.
As part of its work, an executive of Mr. Giuliani’s company met several times with development teams at Raytheon. But the financial relationship ended in September when Giuliani Partners gave up its ownership stake in SkyWatch without compensation.
For nearly a year, Mr. Giuliani has extolled the benefits of a technological approach to border security. Among his efforts has been a radio advertisement, which went on the air in August, called “Fence,” in which he spoke of the need for a “technological fence” at the border.
“You stop illegal immigration by building a fence, a physical fence and then a technological fence,” Mr. Giuliani said in the ad. “You then hire enough border patrol so they can respond in a timely way.”
But neither in the ad, nor in other campaign settings where the issue has come up, has Mr. Giuliani mentioned his involvement with a company developing this technological fence. More on the story.
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