Cuellar pushes for aerial drones to patrol Texas border
CORRECTION: This is a corrected version of the story. An earlier version incorrectly identified the lead federal agency in the deployment of aerial drones for marine operations in Florida.
McALLEN — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar is asking U.S. Customs and Border Protection to expedite a plan to use unmanned aerial vehicles to combat drug trafficking and weapons smuggling along the Texas-Mexico border.
The Laredo Democrat has been pushing the agency to use the surveillance aircraft in Texas since 2005, when three Predator B drones were deployed to other parts of the Southwest border.
The use of the drones in Texas would be part of a comprehensive approach to border security that includes thousands of U.S. Border Patrol agents, the border fence, sensors, cameras and other technologies, Cuellar said. The aerial drones carry cameras capable of identifying an object the size of a milk carton from an altitude of 60,000 feet and would complement efforts to patrol remote parts of the state.
“This aircraft would put eyes in the skies along our Texas border and help the United States handle the evolving threats associated with drug and weapons trafficking,” Cuellar said.
Cuellar, the chairman of the House Homeland Security subcommittee that oversees border issues, wrote a letter last week to the acting CBP commissioner urging him to deploy the aircraft in Texas as soon as possible.
Although the drones are used elsewhere along the border, the agency has not used them in Texas because of concerns about heavy air traffic in the state, Cuellar said. High-ranking CBP officials scheduled a meeting with Cuellar in early April to update him on the progress of his request.
The three Predator B drones that patrol Arizona and New Mexico and another that patrols the Canadian border in North Dakota operate in restricted air space surrounding military bases, said Juan Muñoz Torres, a CBP spokesman in Washington, D.C. Using the drones in the national airspace along the Texas border requires resolving conflicts with thousands of commercial and general aviation flights.
Muñoz said CBP is working with the Federal Aviation Administration to use the drones in areas such as Texas with heavy airline traffic.
The drones fly nonstop for more than 20 hours — much longer than the eight-hour maximum for manned flights — and provide enhanced support to Border Patrol agents on the ground, he said. Beyond regular patrols, the drones quickly provide surveillance of criminal activities in remote areas when sensors are triggered. The drones have been responsible for the apprehension of more than 5,000 illegal immigrants and the seizure of more than 20,000 pounds of drugs since 2005.
“It’s a force multiplier,” Muñoz said. “It’s an additional tool that we have in our inventory in the pursuit of keeping the border secure.”
On the stump, Gov. Rick Perry has also called for the federal government to use unarmed drones between El Paso and Brownsville.
With 1,200 miles of border with Mexico, using the drones provides another layer of security for Texas, Cuellar said. The congressman is also asking for additional aircraft along the northern border and in international coastal areas.
A drone built specifically for marine operations will soon be used by the CBP in Florida for drug interdiction and search-and-rescue operations, Muñoz said.
That program will be operated jointly by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Cuellar said the drones may fly Texas skies next.
“We’re getting to the point where if we can address the issues of the FAA, this will become a reality,” the congressman said.
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Jared Janes covers Hidalgo County government, Edinburg and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4424.
