Drone makes first complete pass of Texas border

Local law enforcement authorities say they can do nothing to stop shootouts in Mexico or bullets from crossing the border into the United States.

The best preventive measure they can take against drug war violence surging on the other side of the Rio Grande is maintaining surveillance, officials and lawmakers said, which is why most are welcoming the use of unmanned aerial drones to patrol the Texas-Mexico border— even if the drones come at a high price.

The first Predator B aircraft to fly along the state’s southern border arrived Wednesday morning at the naval air station in Corpus Christi, marking the first time drones are covering the entire 1,954-mile U.S.-Mexico border.

“For border security, I think they are a cost well invested. They have been tested in Iraq and Afghanistan, and they have worked very well for the military,” said U.S. Rep Henry Cuellar (R-Laredo). He and other congressional representatives in Texas have worked for six months with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Aviation Administration to bring the drones to Texas.

Cuellar said the state needs at least three more unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. The drones use cameras, radar systems and other sensors to provide real-time intelligence to the Border Patrol.

Since the aerial surveillance program began over the nation’s borders in 2005, the United States has maintained six drones—three stationed in Arizona, two in North Dakota and one in Florida. The latest aircraft to fly to Corpus Christi comes from Arizona, but Texas should have its own drone soon, according to the Office of Air and Marine of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Each Predator B is the size of a small plane and costs about $10 million once it is equipped with a radar and sensor system, according to the Office of Air and Marine. The UAVs can stay in the air for as along as 20 hours— up to 10 hours longer than helicopters already in use to support the U.S. Border Patrol— and will fly at an altitude of at least 19,000 feet, which means they won’t be visible from the ground.

The UAVs will not carry weapons but will have sophisticated sensors and day and night vision cameras.

Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio said he does not know enough about the drones to judge whether they are worth their cost, but he believes any new technology makes it easier to watch the border.

“I think there is a use for something like that,” he said of the Predator B. “There are some areas where you need cameras. There is a lot of thick brush and mountain area where you can’t see any movement (on the ground).”

The aircraft, unlike stationary cameras, also will be able to follow immigrants and drug smugglers long enough to provide time for officers to arrive on the scene, Lucio said.

Funding for the aerial patrol came from $600 million in border security legislation signed into law in August by President Obama. The bill also included 1,200 additional National Guard troops that will be dispatched to the nation’s southern border—including more than 200 for Texas.

Rafael Lemaitre, a Washington-based spokesman for CBP, said the drones serve as a force multiplier, allowing CBP to conduct missions in hazardous and desolate environments that are difficult for personnel on the ground to access.

He said decisions on where future unmanned surveillance aircraft will be deployed would be based on intelligence and analysis of threats, terrain and operational need on the ground.

Some people have questioned the safety of unmanned vehicles. An investigation into the 2006 crash of a $6.5 million UAV in Arizona found that human error was involved, according to news reports.

Michael Seifert, coordinator for the Equal Voice Network, an organization uniting various activist groups across the Rio Grande Valley, said he wished the community had had more input into the aerial surveillance program.

“It’s a hard, hard call,” he said. “Narco violence is horrible and awful—it’s out of control on the Mexican side of the border. But does having drones flying over our heads make us safer?”