Hopes To Use The Aircraft To Catch Illegal Immigrants, Smugglers

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection service (CBP) has requested authority to expand their use of UAV's in Texas, notably to fly along the gulf coast and the Rio Grande.

U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo) hosted a meeting late last week between FAA Administrator Babbitt and the CBP. The Austin America Statesman reports that, following the meeting, Cuellar expects that the new UAV will be approved by summer and in operation by fall of this year. The aircraft would be based in Corpus Christi.

"Last week, FAA gave CBP approval to fly from Arizona to West Texas, and now we need clearance for the remaining 1,200 miles of the Texas southern border," Cuellar (pictured, below) said in a statement on his Congressional website. "These aircraft will increasingly become a familiar means for providing homeland security. The real time intelligence they provide will benefit our domestic security strategy and give us a new tool to meet the evolving threats of the 21st century. CBP has a vision to expand this border security program and Texas is a part of that plan."

Currently, CBP Air and Marine operate several Predator B unmanned aircraft systems along the northern and southern borders of the United States. These remotely piloted aircraft have a long duration of flight, up to 20-30 hours, and have provided to the Department of Homeland Security critical national intelligence information to secure the nation’s land borders. The new CBP-operated UAV would provide real-time actionable information to border patrol agents on the ground. This would allow border patrol agents to immediately deploy response vehicles, boats, helicopters or other aircraft to security situations along the border, as is border security practice in other southern border states where UAVs operate.

Pending FAA approval, the remotely-piloted aircraft could provide CBP with air, land and marine intelligence to combat illegal activity along the Rio Grande and Texas coastal waters along the Gulf of Mexico. If the flight track is approved by the FAA, CBP would have the operational capability to deploy a Predator B land-based aircraft or a dual purpose land-marine Guardian Maritime aircraft to the Texas-Mexico border this year. 

Texas officials have long advocated the use of UAV's to patrol the border, and the FAA's primary objection has always been safety issues. "The FAA has moved cautiously in this area because of concerns about the ability of these aircraft to operate in an environment where other nonmilitary aircraft are present," FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford said.

FMI: http://cuellar.house.gov, www.faa.gov, www.cbp.gov,