Key Part Of President's Immigration Plan May Be
Compromised
When President Bush announced his broader immigration initiative
plan last week, deployment of additional unmanned aerial vehicles
along the US-Mexico border was a major part of it. Increased
coverage at lower cost in manpower and equipment to the agency were
cited as reasons... however, another government agency may keep
those UAVs grounded for the future.
Under current regulations, the UAVs may only be operated inside
restricted military airspace, unless a special exemption is granted
by the FAA. Considering it's taken over two years for the Homeland
Security Department's US Customs and Border Protection Directorate
to finalize an agreement with the FAA to fly one UAV in the Tucson,
AZ area, that process may be problematic.
"We have to talk and ask for permission, but FAA is very
strict," said an unnamed CBP spokesperson, as quoted by Congress
Daily. "We're looking at what we can do to get exemptions."
According to the source, the agency has recently received
approval to buy its second Predator B UAV -- which unless the
exemptions are granted, would also be deployed in the Tucson area.
The initial Predator deployed has already helped locate more than
1,000 illegal border crossers in that area in the past two months,
according to media reports.
Currently, the Border
Patrol deploys a fleet of UH-64 Blackhawk helicopters to patrol
other areas along the border.
In the Tuesday speech, President Bush very clearly stated his
plan included UAVs, or "drones" as he called them.
"We're going to use drones to be able to help enforce the border
in rural Texas and in rural New Mexico and rural Arizona," Bush
said Tuesday. "Slowly, but surely, technology is being employed up
and down the border, and that's a key part of our strategy."
Officials at the FAA cite the need to conduct studies into the
safety of deploying the unmanned vehicles into the same airspace
used by general aviation and commercial traffic, including the
possibility a UAV could become compromised and used in a terrorist
attack.
Last month, FAA spokeswoman Laura Brown said the agency is
working with the CBP to develop a plan, and an announcement may
come shortly.
"We are working through the challenges of coordinating these
additional flights while ensuring the safety of nearby civilian
aircraft and are optimistic that we will be able to find a way to
allow CBP to proceed," said Brown in a statement. "We hope to be
able to announce a solution within the next two months."
The use of UAVs would shortly be expanded "in the Arizona area
of operation," said Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar to the
Albuquerque Tribune, although he did not mention other areas.